John 4:5-14 KJV Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 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. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered 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. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever 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.
Introduction
Anyone who has children will probably relate to this story.
A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later....
"Da-ad...."
"What?"
"I’m thirsty. Can you bring me a drink of water?"
"No. You had your chance. Lights out."
Five minutes later: "Da-aaaad....."
"WHAT?"
"I’m THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??"
"I told you NO!" If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!"
Five minutes later......"Daaaa-aaaad....."
"WHAT!"
"When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?"
Jesus was helping the woman at the well realize that there was a deeper thirst that she was missing.
There are two kinds of thirst
• Flesh
• Spirit
No matter how much you attempt to satisfy the thirst of your flesh, your spirit will never be satisfied without being filled with the Holy Spirit.
• We long to feel loved:
o But no matter how many relationships we have with people we still feel a need for a deeper love relationship.
Parents, kids, spouse, friends
• We long to have purpose:
o We try to determine what we REALLY enjoy doing and then pick a career to match it.
College, career, wealth
o But no matter how successful we become, we still feel that we are not fulfilling our purpose.
• People thirst for true joy:
o They take vacations
o Get involved in sports and every activity they can find
o Yet there remains this longing inside
Most people are in a desperate search to satisfy the thirst of the spirit.
• They drink up what everyone around them calls love
• They pursue what their neighbors call happiness
• They read magazines and books to help them improve their quality of life
• They try to find meaning and significance as defined by…
o Dr. Phil
o Oprah
o YouTube
o Myspace
o Facebook
The result is often an even greater thirst that seems to never be satisfied.
It’s like being stuck on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Water is all around you. The sun is beating on your head and you are dying of thirst, so you do the natural thing and drink some of the endless supply of water that’s all around you. Unfortunately, it’s salt water, and the more you drink the thirstier you get.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that there’s no benefit trying to improve
• Your life
• Your marriage
• Or your career
But doing all of those things cannot satisfy the thirst of the spirit.
You can do all of those things and yet, something is missing!
Jesus explained to the woman at the well how to REALLY get your thirst quenched.
The woman at the well was looking for something…
• The religion of her father, mother and all those before her left her looking for more
• What she had been taught was not entirely wrong. However, the focus of her religious beliefs were incorrect.
John 4:19-20 KJV The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Her argument was centered around where they should worship.
• She was missing the whole point
Jesus then attempts to take her understanding of God to a whole new level.
John 4:21-24 KJV Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jesus was telling the woman…
• It doesn’t matter whether you worship on this mountain or on any mountain
o You can be in a valley, or in a boat in the ocean
o You can be in a prison or hospital
• Jesus was telling her, it’s not WHERE a person worships, it’s HOW they worship
Notice carefully what she said…
• “Our fathers (tradition) worshipped (past tense) in this mountain”
• She was taking pride in a “tradition” of “worship” that was passed down to her from her parents and grandparents
• And yet her religion left her EMPTY and THIRSTY
• She knew what she had been taught very well…
o she could rehearse it to others and believed it with a passion
o but she was still thirsty
• She went through several marriages
o But still felt unloved
• At this point of her life was in a relationship outside of marriage.
o She was parched spiritually
Most people select a church by what NAME is on the sign in front of it.
• Their religious opinion is I have MY MOUNTAIN, you have YOURS
• My MOUNTAIN is the RIGHT MOUNTAIN, yours is WRONG
• They are faithful to attend, but really, they don’t get their spiritual thirst quenched
• They have a pride and feel “OK” with God because they did their “OBLIGATION” of attending church on their MOUNTAIN
• But something is lacking…
She was thirsty deep inside– and water from the well was not going to quench it, she was thirsty for…
• acceptance,
• love,
• meaning,
• happiness,
And Jesus knew that. He understood the longing in her heart and soul.
• Being God, Jesus could see deep in her spirit and the thirst that was there
• He knew what it was that she was really thirsty for
• Yes, the water from the well would satisfy the craving for natural thirst,
o But years of broken promises and dead end relationships left her in a state of desperation
• She had religion, but it was empty and lacking in the ability to fulfill the longing she had deep within
• Jesus longed to give her what she had searched for her whole life
So Jesus made her an offer
If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.
• Jesus said, “All you have to do is ask!”
But she may have felt unworthy!
• You are not saved by works but you are saved unto good works.
• You don’t do works to get saved… The reason you do go works is because you are saved.
• You don’t get good to get God! You get God to get good!
All you have to do is ask Him into your life.
Jesus made the same appeal universal to everyone…
John 7:37-38 KJV In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (ESV heart) shall flow rivers of living water.
Jesus promises a life that is overflowing… an abundant life… for all of those who will obey their thirst for Him.
The reality is that what you and I long for, what we really thirst for can only be satisfied through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 11:28 KJV Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Closing
ILLUST: Every year my wife’s family has their annual family reunion In West Virginia. For water, they drive to a spring that flows out of the side of a gorge and fill jugs with fresh cool water from that spring. People from all around the area go to that spring for water and it never runs dry. You could never consume all of the water that pours from that spring.
• You can’t see what the water is coming from it just flows
There is a flow of God’s Spirit.
Acts 2:17 KJV And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh
Perhaps you are at the point where you are ready to make that first step of obedience to God – asking Him to forgive you and surrendering your life to Him?
PRAYER.
