Wells
We don’t tend to think much of wells these days do we
We just turn a tap and there’s the water, who needs a well? Holes in the ground with a puddle of muddy water at the bottom, taking effort to draw the water up and potentially having a serious health risk if not looked after properly. But this is not the case in the third world or our country not that long ago, wells were and are the source of life, greatly valued centre pieces of a community. In fact communities normally “spring” up around wells or springs sources of water for were there is water there is life. It’s the same principle spiritually water is a symbol of life, a indication of creation and promise of hope, substance, growth and sustained life. As a scientist the spiritual side gets more interesting when you consider the molecular structure of water, it’s a trinity of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, each necessary for water to be water and water can exist in three physical forms
I like to think of this as a sort of calling card from God, saying trinity is important, it brings life, sustains life and binds life together in the sense that water if you think about it binds all life on this planet together is the link the common denominator to existence. As is God the Father, God the Sprit and God the Son. The source of living water, the source of the waters of salvation and the source of all life. I’ll like to focus on the term used in Isaiah 12 “Wells of Salvation” what are these and how do we find them and open them?
Digging a well
How do you dig a well? Its not as simple as making a hole and waiting for the water to gush out. The biggest hand dug well can be found in Greensburg Kansas, dug in 1880’s it took a massive effort and was over 109 feet deep and 32 feet in diameter, all of the walls were covered in stone paving and to prevent cave ins every 8 feet a brace was constructed out of 2 foot by 12 foot planks mortised and dovetailed together so than no nails were used in the construction which might then rust and pollute the well water. This well served the whole cities needs until 1939 and is a big tourist attraction with over 3 million people having visited it to date, not bad for a hole in the ground!!
You need an understanding of the geology of the rock formations, know how the water might be moving to or were underground reservoirs were building up to tap into them. You then need to dig the hole in the ground and make sure it is has a solid wall of brick, stone or wood so that the well does not collapse in on its self. You need to dig it deep enough to reach the water
You need then a way of getting the water up to the surface. You then need to maintain the well to make sure that the water is not polluted, does not stagnate and stays fresh. If you do this really well you might have an Artesian well were the water flowing up from the rock is under such pressure it overflows by its self and does not need pumps or buckets to bring it up
Wells take hard work to locate, establish and maintain but they bring life, they transform communities and are vital sources of clean water. I like to think of a church like a well, it can be a source of living water, or Jesus that can transform and bring life to communities or it could fall into disrepair and dry up or get polluted or the like, it’s a precious resource that needs love and care to bring forth more love and life.
Wells of Salvation
I find this phrase well of salvation a deeply moving one, to me it speaks of something never ending, stretching beyond us and our resources something of the eternal. The reality is salvation comes from only one source, there is only one rock from which these waters flow. That’s Jesus the way, the truth and the life. Jesus is the very well spring of salvation, the very source of the redemption we speak of Jesus is the source of the living water, water which is not water in the sense of the physical but in actuality the spirit of God. The touch of Jesus, his spirit that brings those in darkness light, those without hope, hope that ignites the spark of faith into a mighty eternal flame. The well of salvation is the good news that Jesus came from Heaven, God as a man, fully in human form, remained pure and un polluted and then took the punishment we deserve to bring those who love him and accept him into salvation or rightness with God. This resonates through out the Bible in both the old and the new testaments, its central to the whole story, to the whole purpose the very meaning of the Bible is captured in understanding it all points to Jesus, especially stories of water and rocks such as Moses striking the rock to bring forth enough water for the millions of Israelites and their livestock in exile. Exodus 17 :5 - 7 The LORD answered Moses, "Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink." So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah [testing ] and Meribah [quarreling] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the LORD saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"
Its all about God’s love, Gods creation and Gods plan to bring about salvation for those he loves and those that love him.
So how do we dig a “Well of Salvation”?
We can grasp and understand how to dig a physical well, needs a basic understanding of geology, muscle and a lot of patience. But how would we go about making a well of salvation as spoken of in Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”. Lets look at the preceding words it sort of point the direction if you like acts as a spiritual divining stick for us to follow and find the point to dig. It says in verses 1 and 2 “In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."
The key is Jesus is the cross and what was done on the cross were Jesus took all the reasons for God to be angered and turned away from us and opened the way for us by his sacrifice for us to be washed clean in Gods eyes to be made new reborn by the saving love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, freely given for all
So the first step is turning to Jesus confessing he is Lord and believing in faith that he is alive risen from the dead, alive and rejoicing in that fact
Every thing else just flows from that starting point, I believe the more we let go of the man made elements of religion, the doctrines and the joy killers the more the will find a life with the true joy of salvation and joy is the key, joy is the proof that the well head is found and we can start digging deeper to let the waters of Christ flood out. Why is joy important, we look around you consider the world, people want to be happy, its understandable, I would rather be happy than sad would not you? Joy is for me a sign of Gods hand in humanity, I mean what evolutionary benefit is had by joy, what Darwinian principle is served by it, survival of the fittest? You are more vulnerable to your enemies while in a happy place, you might not think logically or be able to land the killer punch while laughing or being happy, you might not be at your intellectual best
No for me Joy is evidence of the divine, don’t worry I’m not pushing a strange theology that you are only saved and good with God if you are happy, that would rule me out most days, no I’m saying that joy if you like is a spark a small flash or revelation as to what the life to come in heaven with God and Jesus is going to be like, joy brings a sense of heaven into the grim reality of our earthly existence. That is why it is so precious and also why people seek it, but often to often by the wrong ways, by sex, drugs and all those others ways that are not of God, these bring moments maybe, but the leave the person emptier and ultimately more desperate to fill that hole in their lives
No the only true source of joy, is God is Jesus is the Holy Sprit then we can know true Joy that which believe me we are made and wired to enjoy. It might come as a shock but Christians can be happy, we can even enjoy ourselves, even let rip and just explode with the joy of it all, be drunk on it we are told in the bible no less. Ephesians 5:17-19 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. This is a challenging thing then, first step for wells of Salvation get happy and mean it!
Joy the final frontier!!!
To some I know anyone walking around this world is a semi joyful sate would be a candidate for mental health concerns. They would tell me, how can you be happy, happy with what’s happening in the world, happy with the economy, happy with the fact it costs as much to run a small country as it does to fill your car with motion fluid?? What’s the deal why should you be happy? So as a Christian try this thought on as a happy thought, “Jesus is Good News” you might say for friends and family who could be doubting your sanity, what they would say is good about a man dying in such a terrible bloody way how is this good news, how can you be joyful about it now we know you are for the funny farm they might say. Perhaps it time for Christians to start showing the joy, to start actually living like they have found the good news, found the treasure in the field, the giant pearl the light in the darkness and are actually happy at the reality of it, happy with the knowledge that what every they do God will love them, that the will live for ever in heaven in a perfect abundance of Gods love, come on people is this not something to be happy about and show it? Consider Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Jesus never told us not to be happy, walk with me on this one for a while. Think for a minute about consider where and what was the first miracle of Jesus it was at a wedding, a celebration a time of public joy sharing and he turned water into wine, not just a bottle but estimated equivalent of 100 to 150 bottles worth, not the cheap stuff either, why so people could enjoy it. Consider what Jesus told us in John 15: 9 – 13 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
You see the Beatles had is right, all you need is love, the greatest expression and truest form of joy is love. We are told by Jesus to “Love one another” this does not mean just Christians and just the Christians you like and have the same sub set of beliefs, nope its everyone – all the rest of humanity beyond yourself are your neighbors and if you are a Christian you are meant to Joyful love them as Jesus did and does!!!
That’s how you start digging a well of Salvation its takes us to move closer to God to open our hearts and let Jesus fully in with his Joy so that our Joy might be complete and so we can then share it to all we meet.
Let the digging begin!!!
How do you dig out a well of salvation, well its simple its called prayer. Giving ourselves in prayer is the way a well of salvation is dug. Obviously the more involved in the prayer the better. As with the illustrations concerning well construction given earlier you also need to project the emerging well by shoring up the sides to stop cave in and prevent pollution seeping in this is were worshiping in sprit and truth, praising God and Jesus in the power for the Holy Spirit is critical. As it says in Isaiah 12: 4 – 6 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.“
You see as we worship God, there is the kingdom of God among us, true worship does bring heaven to earth, worshiping in spirit and truth with hearts overflowing with love opens the heavens above us and brings forth the joy and the glory of God into the place
This is a true meaning for worship, not for our emotional benefit, though there is no harm in that, but it brings forth the kingdom of God here on earth, opens the doors for salvation to come. Worshiping Jesus in the Holy Spirit and the truth that he was and is and will be the son of God, the I AM brings the fullness of Gods purpose, not to lower God to mans level but to raise up humanity to God into his presence, made whole brought to the fullness and the rightness of how we were created to be. True worship is really achieved in a place prepared by prayer, in a well dug by passionate prayer, prayer for the lost, prayer for the unloved, prayer for the hurting and in reality the key focus for all of the prayer and worship can only be Jesus and what he did on the cross
Take for example John Wesley, his journal entry on 1st January 1739 reads “Mr Hall, Hinching, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutching and my brother Charles were present at our love feast in Fetter Lane with about 60 of our brethren. At about three in the morning as we were continuing in instant prayer the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for the exulting joy and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from the awe and amazement at the presence of His Majesty, we broke out with one voice, “We praise. Thee O God, we acknowledge Thee to be Lord”
Can you imaging a prayer meeting like that today, the neighbours would call the police, 60+ at three in the morning and then crying out and falling over, surely they are on drugs or something, just as the followers of Jesus at the first Pentecost were accused.
The Wesley brothers did indeed open many a well of Salvation, as we can still do today, same God, same Sprit and same Jesus!!!
Just to underline this point, consider the story of the Moravian missionaries.
The Moravian Missionaries
In the early 1700’s a congregation of some 300 Hussites, Anabaptists, Calvinists and various disciples of non-conforming Christian doctrines came together seeking refuge on the estate of Count Zinzindorf in Saxony, East Germany also called Moravia. Like the Count who was 27 years old at the time most of this community were young and fleeing persecution. At first they quarrelled over doctrines of baptism, holiness, predestination and the like
The Count encouraged them to just concentrate on their shared love for Jesus, over his cross, which he reminded them brought their redemption not their doctrines, they joined in understanding and covenant agreement to begin seeking the Lord in travailing prayer (meaning Work, especially when arduous or involving painful effort; toil, tribulation or agony; anguish another definition is Childbirth), this is what happened:
Tuesday August 05th 1727 Count Zinzindorf spent the entire night in watching and prayer this was called Herrnhut meaning “The Lords Watch” the community took this name for their Church from the name of the village were it was based. Sunday August 10th 1727 when Pastor Rothe preached the congregation fell under the power of the Holy Sprit. Wednesday August 13th 1727 at morning communion the power of God came upon that community in such shattering force that men working in fields 10 miles away were stricken and under the shock of it, the records of this time point to this event as the moment when the ommunity “learned to love one another”. Wednesday August 27th 1727 the Herrnhut Church began a prayer meeting that lasted day and night without stopping for over 100 years. This century long prayer meeting of labouring, travailing, intercession basically birthed the modern mission movement. Long after the original members of Herrnhut were dead every Protestant orientated denomination engaged in carrying the gospel to the unsaved did so because of that century of Moravian praying. Moravian Missionaries quickly flooded out of Germany like water rushing out of a powerful artesian well, in 25 years more than 200 preachers and 3000 Evangelists. Went to every continent on earth, One such Moravian Pastor a Brother Bohler came to England to London and preached to the likes of John and Charles Wesley, during his sermon the brothers were deeply moved and John experienced “Justifying Faith”
From the first prayers to the prayers over a 100 years, hundreds of millions came to faith, a slumbering tradition choked Church was stirred back to life and the world was transformed. This is a true story of a well of Salvation and some would ague reflects the historical move of the Holy Sprit in the Church body
Which has been characterised by:
Inspiration
Evangelization
Organisation
Stagnation
At which point would you say the wider Church body is today, I would say Stagnation, which usually leads to an out cry for inspiration and the cycle repeats.
Or if you like the well analogy you dig it, use it, benefit from it then if you don’t maintain it lose it until you get thirsty and feel the need to start again.
So shall we dig?
Personally I passionately want to see Wells of Salvation being dug all over the World, I want to see the life changing force of Jesus flooding out for all
But I know it has to start with me or each of us to be precise. What I’m trying to say is it needs to start in my heart before I can do anything
You see the place were we dig the Wells of Salvation is in our hearts. Consider: John 7:37-39 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. To first dig this well we need to let Jesus into our hearts, confess he is Lord and turn to him. We then need to surrender to him to trust him and let Jesus live through us so that his kingdom, his authority rules our lives all our thoughts, attitudes, ways, letting God see through our eyes, speak with our lips and hear with our ears, in a personal sense letting his kingdom come through out our kingdom and domain. This is done not by our strength but by the power of the Holy sprit working in us as soon as we give our lives to Jesus. We can then start digging in prayer in worship, trying to do so always not out loud but making prayer and worship the constant song of our hearts asking Jesus to help us fill our hearts with his love so it overflows, so the living waters Jesus promises which is his spirit of love, acceptance, justice, mercy, hope and all the fruits of the spirit flow out from us like streams and rivers of living water from that artesian well of salvation God plants in all of our hearts. We need to give him permission to start the flow, to let the joy begin and just see what happens around you if this starts. See families saved, see communities transformed, see nations energised and moving for Christ, see the transforming power of God and his glory here on earth. That’s good news, that’s worth living for worth digging for worth dying for, that’s living like Jesus for the sake of loving our neighbours and our God we have no choice, so get digging and smile! Remember this God is never satisfied with anything less than all: “all thy heart . . . all thy soul . . . all thy might.” This may not at first be possible, but deeper experience with God will prepare us for it, and the inward operations of the Holy Spirit will enable us after a while to offer Him such a poured-out fullness of love.
Finally friends remember Gods calling cards and be encouraged the trinity of water, as sign of life and the fact that love is all we need its serves no real Darwinian purpose but it points us to God to our creator and in both water love and the blood of Jesus we have the entire meaning of life and the true well of salvation.
Lets pray, Lord God, amighty God I ask by your creative power that you would open the hearts of all who hear and read these words to your son Jesus Christ, Lord Jesus I pray that we would let you into our hearts by faith and surrender to you and Lord I ask as you promise that the stream of living water would pour forth from those hearts that are given and believe in you. Lord and Holy Spirt dig deep into our hearts wells of salvation and may we every be prasing God with Joy and thanskgiving so that the precious waters flow from us into the lives of those we meet and know, those we love and those we don’t all Lord, may all taste your waters of life through those who beleive in you.
Amen.
