889. Thirsting for Living Water

Welcome to The Daily Platform, sponsored by Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Today's speaker is the president of Bob Jones University, Dr. Steve Pettit.

For over 29 years, Steve was an evangelist, traveling across the country, preaching and teaching in evangelistic services and camp ministries. I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of John, John chapter 4 today. I'm going to read one verse as our theme verse for the week, and then look at this passage of Scripture. And I hope that the Lord will use it today to stir your heart up and give you a vision and a passion for the Gospel. John chapter 4, verse 35, Jesus says these words, say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh the harvest.

Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white, all ready to harvest. About a week and a half ago, I was flying from here in Greenville up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was sitting on the window seat and there was an elderly gentleman that was sitting on the aisle seat. And really right just before we were to leave, a lady came and sat in the center seat and looking at her, I guess she was in her upper 30s and later found out she was about 40 years old. She seemed to be a little more open to conversation for, as you well know, on a plane it's hard to talk with people because oftentimes they'll have their earbuds in and not really communicative. I said hello and we exchanged a few statements with each other. And then I asked her, I said, what is it that you're carrying?

It was sitting on the floor. And she said it was her yoga mat. Well, come to find out, she was a yoga instructor, a teacher.

She had been in Atlanta for a conference where she had been teaching. And she was a very transparent, very open person. And she began to talk about her life and how yoga had been a great help to her. She opened up with me and shared with me that she had gone through some painful experiences including having children at a very young age and having to raise them as a single mother.

She opened up about a current relationship that she had been in where there were lots of struggles she was experiencing and how painfully difficult it was for her at the time. I asked her actually a couple of questions about yoga and how it relates to Christianity. I asked her if yoga was a purely physical exercise. And she was very quick to tell me that it was actually a very spiritual thing. And through it, she definitely believed in a higher being. Well, in the process of our conversation, I wanted to do the best I could to turn it into a gospel opportunity. And so I asked her a question. I said, have you ever read the Bible? And she said she hadn't really read it very much.

I said, you know what? I think you ought to consider the Bible. You ought to consider reading the fourth chapter of the book of John. I said in this chapter, Jesus meets a woman and this woman eventually finds in Jesus Christ every thing she's looking for in life.

Interestingly to me, she said that actually another person had encouraged her to read the exact same chapter in the Bible. So why John 4? And what is it from the fourth chapter of John we can learn this morning from the master evangelist Jesus?

And how it is that he was so effective in reaching into the hearts of people. I hope that this week that you will learn at least one thing out of the course of the week, something that will make you more effective in reaching into the life of people with gospel conversations. So let's look this morning at the fourth chapter of John because here it's the very famous story of Jesus' encounter with a woman at the well. The story takes place in an area called Samaria, that's north of Jerusalem.

Jesus was going home up to Nazareth in Galilee where he lived. And Samaria was the shortest route from Galilee to Jerusalem, but the problem with it is it was also the most hostile region. It was very dangerous and the reason is because the Samaritans were a mixed race. They were half Jews and they were half Gentiles and they were very despised by pure-blooded Jews.

You could call it racism to the max. Well on their journey Jesus and his disciples come to a village called Sychar and in that village there was a very famous well that was formerly owned by the Old Testament father Jacob, so it's called Jacob's well. It's about noon so the disciples go into the village to get something to eat and Jesus goes to the well to sit down and rest knowing that he had a divine appointment. Because at the exact noon hour a woman comes out to the well, a single woman all by herself, to draw water. Now immediately that is a key to understanding the story because women did not draw water in the middle of the day. They did it in the morning and they did it in the evening so every morning many of the ladies from the village would be there in the evening the same thing. It was a time of conversation. She went all by herself.

Why? Well as the story unfolds you begin to see that she was wanting to avoid the other women in her village because of something in her life and then Jesus does something that blows the mind of this lady. He speaks to her and asks if she would give him a drink of water and this shocked her and the reason it shocked her first of all because Jews despise Samaritans and they never talk to them and secondly in that culture men never spoke to women in public especially a Jewish rabbi. So in verse nine of chapter four this woman asked a question. She said to Jesus, how is it that you a Jew ask a drink from me a woman of Samaria? And then Jesus did something brilliant. The master evangelist. He turns the conversation around and he does two things that arrests this woman's attention.

Some have suggested it always arrests the attention of a woman. Number one, he aroused her curiosity. Number two, he offered her a free gift. He said to her and I'll paraphrase it in verse 10, if you understood who you were speaking to and what was the gift God wanted to give you, you would actually be asking me for a drink and I would give you something better.

I would give you living water. What is Jesus doing? When you read the story, read between the lines. For Jesus is masterfully reaching down into this woman's heart. If you're going to be effective in gospel conversations, you have to get into people's lives. And Jesus began to draw out of this woman what she was really wanting in life, but she wasn't getting. Jesus, the Bible says in the book of Proverbs chapter 20 and verse five, counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.

Jesus was drawing out what was inside of this woman's heart because he began to help us understand that this woman was thirsting for something in life. A number of years ago, there was a beer company called Dos Akis. They had an advertising campaign called the most interesting man in the world.

Have you ever seen it? The commercial is centered around this older bearded debonair gentleman with voiceovers about his life experiences and they're intended to be both humorous and outrageous. The company's brand strategy was to create a man who is rich in stories and experiences much the way the audience hopes that their life will be in the future. And of course, at the end of the advertisement, this most interesting man, usually shown sitting in some kind of social setting or a nightclub, is surrounded by a couple of beautiful young women. And he says, I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Akis. And then the commercial ends with the most interesting man in the world stating his signature sign off. He says, stay thirsty, my friends. You know, first time I saw that, I said, that's so stupid. And then I thought, you know what?

They're actually really smart because they're drawing out of you something that you want in life. It's not beer, it's the whole experience of this guy. What is he saying? What is Jesus trying to do in the life of this woman? He's trying to draw out what it is that she is thirsting for. Something she's trying to satisfy. Everybody is thirsty. Everybody has desires.

Everybody is looking for something. And what is Jesus doing? He is saying, I am the one who satisfies the thirst of your soul.

I am actually what you really want. John 7 37, if anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. Jesus said, whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his belly, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. What is Jesus saying? I am the one that can satisfy the deepest thirst of your soul. So what was Jesus's evangelistic method with this woman?

He was going after that part of her that was thirsty. If you only knew who was speaking to you and what he is offering to you, you would be asking me for a drink. Years ago, there was an evangelistic campaign called Jesus is the answer. Billboards and bumper stickers were put everywhere saying Jesus is the answer. Finally, someone came back with another bumper sticker asking the next question. What's the question?

You don't understand the answer if you don't understand the question. And this was the case of this woman. She said to Jesus, sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? She obviously was thinking in the realm of the physical, but Jesus was talking about the spiritual. He was not talking about the body. He was talking about the soul because it's in the human soul where our real thirst lies. Look at verse 13, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whosoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life. What is Jesus doing? Jesus is showing us that effective evangelism takes place at the thirst level in the hearts of people. The desires of people like what? Like fear, forgiveness, satisfaction, meaning, purpose, intimacy, identity, belonging, security, significance, value, hope, love.

At the point where people thirst is where gospel conversations become the most effective. My oldest daughter Rebecca is living in the land of Israel. She's working on a doctorate degree there. She also does guiding for tours and so about a week or so ago she was invited to be the main storyteller and guide for five people who came to Israel to be a part of a writer's gathering. These were professional writers for movies and theater and drama. Some had worked in for Marvel and they'd worked for Disney and so she guided them around the land of Israel and basically went to various sites and told the stories of the sites and one of them was a self-described atheist and the night before they finished their last tour my daughter was able to talk to her about Jesus. The woman seemed as my daughter said to be searching but she had a one-dimensional view of Christianity and the lady asked my daughter do you actually really believe in all this stuff and my daughter said absolutely and then she began to open up her greatest fear of life which was dying and suddenly she came to the thirst level what she was looking for and my daughter was able to share with her how that she did not fear death because of the resurrection of Jesus that Jesus said I am the resurrection the life he that believeth in me though we were dead yet shall he live in the hope of the believer is this resurrection that we have in Christ she was able to reach her at the thirst level event effective evangelism always goes after soul thirst no wonder this woman said in verse 15 sir give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water she began to want what Jesus offered but that's not where evangelism ended because this woman needed to go to another level and that is she had to change the way she was thinking she had to recognize the error in her seeking to satisfy her thirst the wrong way because what she had done is what what she had gone after to satisfy that thirst she she had made it an idol and what was her idol Jesus said in verse 16 go call your husband and tell him to come here and the woman said I have no husband and Jesus answered and said you are right in saying that I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one you're now with is not even your husband and the woman was honest and she said what you have said is true sir I perceive that you are a prophet what is an idol an idol is what you try to satisfy your thirst apart from God the old testament says that this way to the Jewish people who worship idols you seek water out of broken cisterns and you have forsaken the fountain of living water you are trying to satisfy the thirst of your soul with that which cannot satisfy and Jesus had to expose this woman's idol she had to see that her way and trying to satisfy her desires was the wrong way what is sin sin is not the desire to satisfy your own desires but is doing it against God's created order for a woman to want to find satisfaction in a man can only be righteous if it is done in God's order and designed for marriage Hebrews 13 5 marriage is honorable in all in the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge obviously this woman by virtue of her five marriages and the man she was living with was seeking something obviously that no one man could give her she went from one to the next to the next to the next to the next seeking something out of each man that not one man could give her she had to be broken over her own idolatry and now we know why she didn't want to draw water at the normal times with other women because she was ashamed she avoided the crowd and this woman said to Jesus I know the Messiah is coming he is he who is called the Christ when he comes he will tell us all things and Jesus said to her I who speak to you am he Jesus Jesus made it clear that what she really wanted he was what is it that we all really want what do you want as an individual what is it that can only satisfy the deepest longings of your heart it is Jesus Christ he is the fountain of living water so what did the woman do the bible says in verse 28 she left her water jar she went into town she began to tell all the people the people that she had avoided that's what happens when you meet Jesus you get forgiveness you get satisfaction and then you want to go tell someone and she said come see a man who told me all that I ever did can this be the Christ effective evangelism takes place through gospel conversations that lead people to realize and discover that Jesus is the one who can satisfy them so what happens the disciples come they return from the village and they got food they're loaded up they got groceries young guys lunch time what do you want to do nothing spiritual let's eat and Jesus lets the disciples know that there is something that satisfies him more than food something they didn't even know about you see receiving the gospel satisfied the woman's soul preaching the gospel satisfied Jesus's soul I want you to understand that I personally believe that you will never be satisfied in your Christian experience until you are having gospel conversations if you are not giving the water of life out as you're taking it in you become like the dead sea stagnant many of you have never experienced the passion and the joy of your faith because you've got to share your faith there is something that evangelism gives you in your heart that brings one of the deepest satisfactions of life telling people about Christ and so at this same time Jesus is talking to his disciples what happens the Samaritans from town had believed the woman's testimony and they were coming to Jesus to hear his words and listen to what Jesus said in verse 35 he said to his own disciples do not say there are yet four months and then comes the harvest lift up your eyes look on the fields they are white already to harvest and the simplest way I can explain it Jesus is saying you have a saying that they're four months between sowing and harvest time and agriculturally that is true but spiritually that is not true disciples lift up your eyes look down the road at the approaching Samaritans and you will agree with me that these that are coming are the whitened harvest field ready to be reaped look and see broken lives hungry souls needy people people who are thirsty they are everywhere and they are ready they are prepared lift up your eyes the fields are ripe they are ready to be reaped go to them now that's what he's saying and you don't have to go very far to find a needy soul and effective evangelism takes place at the thirst level when I was growing up in Columbia I had a friend of mine named Jim Harrelson Jim and I were buddies in high school he was a year older than I was he finished high school one year before me 1973 I finished in 74 we actually played on the football team together in high school public high school and we actually played the same position he played tight end I played tight end when he graduated he went to college at the citadel and when I graduated I went to college at citadel the following year and we were both in the same company we were in D company Delta company so to put it mildly Jim and I were really really good friends and during our high school years we actually talked about spiritual things together and I remember very clearly having a conversation with him in a car talking about spiritual things but neither one of us were believers well I got saved my freshman year and began to grow in the Lord Jim did not become a Christian in his senior year he was about to graduate my junior year and I remember taking him out one evening to a restaurant in Charleston South Carolina a local Denny's and we sat there for probably I don't know an hour to two hours and I just tried to beg Jim to get saved but Jim wasn't ready because he wasn't thirsty he graduated his degree was business administration and he went out into the banking industry I graduated the next year came here to Bob Jones did two years and then finished and then I went up to Michigan to work as a youth pastor and I'm going to guess I was probably about 28 years old been in the youth ministry about four years somewhere around there and I got a letter in the mail from Jim and opened it up and Jim told me a story and he shared with me how he had how he had become a believer and how he had sought for satisfaction in the world and he did in the middle 20s what you do he was involved in lots of immoral relationships and alcohol and so forth and so on but thank God he got saved and he wanted to write me just to thank me for the testimony and the witness Jim went on to Bible college he actually went down in Columbia at Columbia Bible College in those days he got his master's degree and doing mission work he got married he and his wife joined a mission agency and they began to serve overseas they began to serve in Sudan Africa and so I would keep up with Jim's updates but then Jim came back to the United States and he began to continue to work in his agency and today the agency is called Samaritan's Purse and Jim Harrelson is the vice president of Samaritan's Purse he is the fellow that is in charge of operation Christmas child and so he is involved in a ministry of getting the gospel to literally thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of children with the gospel my friend Jim Harrelson and I remember the conversation as if it was happening right now there are people who are thirsty and folks you have the pure water of life go and have gospel conversations reach down into their heart find out what they're hungry for and show them that only Jesus can satisfy the depths of their soul father we thank you for your great grace thank you for what you're doing in people's lives to the power of the gospel Lord I pray that that the work of this week will translate into thousands upon thousands of gospel conversations over this summer where many many people will hear the gospel and be saved and we ask this in Jesus name amen thank you for joining us today you know these daily programs are made possible by the many friends of Bob Jones University and this radio ministry if you appreciate these programs and benefit from the faithful preaching and teaching of God's word would you consider sending us a special financial gift today you can easily do that through the website thedailyplatform.com and then click on the give button on the home page to learn more about Bob Jones University the sponsor of today's program you can go to the bottom of the website thedailyplatform.com and click on Bob Jones University thanks again for listening we hope you'll join us tomorrow at the same time as we 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