THE WELL – A Place That Satisfies Eternally
John 4:13:15 March 20, 2022
Introduction:
[I remember hearing the story of a preacher teaching a group of 7 year olds the importance of marriage. God’s view of it...and he asked the class, “How many times are we supposed to get married?”
And one little boy put his hand up immediately...the preacher said, “Yes, Johnny.” And Johnny said, 8 times...we’re supposed to get married 8 times. And the preacher said, “Johnny where’d you come up with 8?” And Johnny said, “4 better and 4 worse...8!”]
The Samaritan woman hadn’t made it to 8, but she sure had a running start at it with 5 marriages and living with this 6th guy.
I’m not sure how many marriages I’ve done in the past 42 years of ministry, but let’s say, “A lot!!!”
And I’ve never sat with a couple who thought...“OK after 2 ½ years we’re gonna hate each other! We’ll leave God out of our day to day living and let the routine of life slowly corrode and kill this love and attraction we feel for each other.”
Never had a couple start with that goal...but have had dozens and dozens arrive there.
Marriage might be made in heaven, but they have to be loved out by real people here on earth.
I don’t think it’s an accident that Jesus is called the groom...and He describes His coming to earth as the Messiah like a party...a wedding celebration.
Remember last week when I reminded you of Jesus eating at Matthew’s house...He was eating with many tax collectors and sinners...and the religious Pharisees started to whisper “why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners.”
Jesus hears the question and answers it, “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12-13)
On the heels of this, John the Baptist’s disciples (could have been Andrew & John) ask Jesus, “why do the Pharisees fast so often but your disciples do not fast.” (Matthew 9:14)
Listen:
MATTHEW 9:15-17
Jesus, the bridegroom is saying something very, very important about salvation and eternity.
I. JESUS THE GROOM WILL LOVE HIS BRIDE AND MAKE HER NEW
When the movie called, “50 Shades of Grey” premiered. The first weekend it did 80 million dollars...surpassing the past February record holder...ironically “Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.”
Maybe you haven’t heard of it...but if you are plugged into society even a little you have...It’s described this way in its trailer: “Mr. Grey will see you now...and then the movie becomes soft porn as a man dominates with sado masicism a young girl.
Statistics reveal that 75% of 50 Shades audience are female. Why? One reporter said, “Maybe women are looking for security and strength in a man, but they’re willing to settle for this.”
Satan promises “newness,” excitement.”
What he delivers is a perversion of God’s perfect plan...And before you see this movie because, it’s fun...remember you cannot un-see what you’ve seen and all Satan looks for sometimes is an opening...a foothold. Don’t give it to him!!!
I’m sure the Samaritan woman at the well felt like anything but an innocent young girl. As we’ve said, “5 husbands...not 8, but still 5 life experiences with different partners...children? We don’t know, but chances are yes...maybe with several different dads. And at this point in her life, she settles for living with a guy...trading herself for whatever security he provides.
New would describe very little in her life!
[And maybe you feel that way today...In your marriage, in your relationships, in your job. In almost everything you would say, “This is getting old!”
I had someone tell me that the other day and I asked, “When was the last time you stopped trying to fix it on your own?”
And they started to answer...defensively, but then the Holy Spirit made them stop...and with their head down they said, “years.”]
Folks, I cannot guarantee you a life free from pain and struggles...not here on earth anyway...but I can introduce you to a Savior who can make you brand new...I can introduce you to a Savior “who can take your sin though they be as scarlet He can make them as white as snow..though they are as red as crimson He can make them like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18)
He does that when we are born again...He washes away all the accumulated filth...He fills us with His Spirit...Everything changes. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old things are gone and new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“In Christ”...what an amazing place to be! And He, “IN US!”
Here’s the Samaritan woman’s promise...Here’s my hope for newness...and yours. Paul records the past lives of the Corinthians and then says...”you were.” Not you are, “you were”...but no longer.
1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11
There is no sin...no past so crimson...so scarlet that the washing, sanctifying, justifying sacrifice of Jesus cannot cleanse it...and that the Holy Spirit can’t renew it daily.
Husbands don’t need to dominate and control their wives...that’s not what brings newness and security to our marriages. “Husbands we need to love our wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word and to present her to himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
I love this story:
A woman and her young daughter were attending the wedding of a relative. This was the first time the little girl had ever seen a wedding ceremony. She was in awe by the pomp and beauty of everything; the music, the formal atmosphere, the decorations, the bride and groom and their attendants in fine gowns and tuxes. At one point during the ceremony the little girl leaned over to her mother and whispered: “Mommy, mommy?” “What dear,” her mother replied. “Why is the bride dressed in white?” The mother thought about that for a moment and struggled to come up with a simple explanation her daughter would understand. Finally, she smiled and said to her daughter, “The bride wears white, because white is the color of happiness, and today is the happiest day of her life.” The little girl thought about this for a moment, and then said, “So why’s the groom wearing black?”
Jesus our groom wore black and God’s word tells us exactly why...in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Jesus loved His bride, the church, so much he took all our sin, every sin...He became sin...(Do you ever think about that?) Jesus became adultery, murder, gossip, lying, stealing, lust...not because he’d ever committed these sins, but we sure have...and the entirety of “ALL” sin blackened the spotless Lamb of God so we could wear white before the throne of God...in Christ..our Groom.
It’s true for a Samaritan woman...and it’s true for me and you. Jesus offers just this gift for our salvation and cleansing.
How can you receive it?
II. DRINK THE WATER JESUS OFFERS AND LET IT BECOME A SPRING
Nicodemus asked Jesus in John chapter 3 “How can someone be born when they are old...“Surely you can’t enter your mother’s womb a second time to be born!” (John 3:5)
Jesus answered “Very truly I tell you no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh give birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.”
Just so everyone is clear...The Living Water Jesus offers...This gift of God is clearly “The Holy Spirit.”
People have argued for centuries over what born of water means...Is it the amniotic fluid of a mother’s womb...Is it Christian baptism...
My belief is Jesus is talking about Christian baptism...the same thing Peter refers to in Acts 2 when he says “Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)
It's what Jesus is referring to when He says in Mark 16:16 "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
But there is no arguing what Jesus means when He says, “Born of the Spirit.” If you remove the Holy Spirit from this process all you have is water...and you’re just getting wet!
The Holy Spirit is the Catalyst of salvation. He is the one who activates the desire to be forgiven. He is the magnet God uses to draw people to Himself. In Acts 2:37 He is the one “cutting people’s hearts” after Peter’s plea. He is the one creating a spiritual thirst in the Samaritan woman’s soul. He is the one John says “convicts the world in regard to sin, guilt and the judgment. (John 16:8) He is the One who “goes out from the Father and testifies about Jesus.” (John 15:26)
He is spiritually pulling you towards God as He shows you your sin. He reveals the cross as the answer....and He is the one who brought Jesus back to life in the resurrection...and upon your death, burial and resurrection in baptism...He is the One who raises you to live a new life. (Romans 8:11, Romans 6:4)
[When I use the word catalyst...I think about my science project in Mrs. Graper’s class at James Lane Allen in 5th grade. It was a volcano. It was awesome...it had a paper mache volcano with plastic trees and dinosaurs roaming around it. (The dino's not the trees) and the volcano had a baby food jar at the top...hidden in its opening that baby food jar was filled with baking soda and red food coloring. When I presented the project I poured into the baby food jar, vinegar as a catalyst. If you don’t know what vinegar does to baking soda and red food coloring...try it when you get home...nothing happens without a catalyst, but introduce the catalyst and the lava flows...it explodes with bubbling fury...it springs out of the volcano and envelops the trees, dinosaurs and everything else...I got an A...one of the few at that time in my life.] (largest Mt. Hood Community College)
SHOW VIDEO (Mt. Hood Community College Volcano)
The Holy Spirit is the Catalyst God pours into our lives. Nothing will happen without Him...but if you want the gift God offers...You have to take the gift...The living water...be born again, of the water and the Spirit...and He will flood your entire existence.
Who does Jesus offer this gift to? Those who the world would least expect...we’ve talked about weddings...one of the pictures Jesus uses of grace is of a wedding banquet...Philip Yancy in “What’s So Amazing About Grace” writes:
Accompanied by her fiance, a woman went to the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston to order what was supposed to be their wedding banquet. They poured over the menu, made selections of china and silver, pointed to the pictures of flower arrangements they liked. They both had expensive tastes and the bill came to $13,000. After leaving a check for half that amount as a down payment, the couple went home to flip through books of wedding announcements.
The day the announcements were supposed to hit the mailbox, the potential groom got cold feet. “I’m just not sure,” he said, “it’s a big commitment. Let’s think about this a little bit longer.” And he dumped his fiancee. When his angry fiancee returned to the Hyatt to cancel the banquet, the Events Manager could not have been more understanding. “The same thing happened to me, honey,” she said and told the story of her own broken engagement. But about the refund, she had bad news. “The contract is binding. You’re only entitled to $1300 back. You have two options, forfeit the rest of the down payment (thousands of dollars) or go ahead with the banquet. I’m sorry, really I am.” It seemed crazy, but the more the jilted bride thought about it, the more she liked the idea of going ahead with the party. Not a wedding banquet, mind you, but a big blow-out. Tens years before, the same woman had been living in a homeless shelter. She’d gotten back on her feet, found a good job, set aside a sizable nest egg. Now she had this wild notion of using her savings to treat the down and outs of Boston to a night on the town. And so it was in June of 1990 the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston hosted at party such as it had never seen before. The hostess changed the menu to boneless chicken in honor of the groom, she said. She sent invitations to rescue missions and homeless shelters. That warm summer night people who were used to peeling half-mud pizza off the cardboard, dined instead on chicken cordon bleu. Hyatt waiters in tuxedos served hors d’oeuvres to senior citizens propped up by crutches and aluminum walkers. Bag ladies, vagrants and addicts took one night off from the hard life on the sidewalks outside and instead ate chocolate wedding cake and danced to Big Band melodies late into the night.
Let’s Pray.
