Illustration: On December 26, 2004, an enormous earthquake under the Indian Ocean fractured the crust of the earth and caused a tsunami. A huge wave of water, 80 feet high in some locations, came crashing down on the shores of many countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka. Thousands and thousands of people were killed. Can you imagine that! Too much water can certainly kill people. On the other hand, if we do not get enough water to drink we will get thirsty and we will die. Like food and air, water is a physical necessity of our lives; without it we will die.
And when you live in the desert, you really learn to appreciate water. In fact, when you live in the desert, and have to deal with daily danger of dehydration, you really learn that water is truly life giving. In a reminder of how at times, free choice is less than healthy, I used to see people load up whole shopping carts of soda or beer instead of water. How can we make sure we drink as deeply as we can and need to from water and from the source of Living Water?
There is an even deeper level of thirst in our lives that is desperately crying out for relief today. It is the thirst of our spiritual lives. This thirst cannot be satisfied with natural water, not even the best bottled water money can buy. Neither will having friends, or a good job, a loving wife and three children fill this thirst within you. In order to quench this need, Jesus says we need what He calls, "Living Water." Listen again to verses 13 and 14. "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Introduction: The nation of Israel was well aware of what life in a desert entailed. Their forefathers had the experience of roaming in the wilderness for 40 years. So, they knew well the importance of water for daily survival. Since water is so essential for human life, it should be no surprise then that God is often referred to in the Bible as being like Living Water to us, or as providing us with Living Water (and thus being the creator and giver of life, who gives us everything we really need).
God is this Spring of Living Water who continually gives life to us. In those days, there were two main sources of water, such as flowing and clean water from natural springs or still water from humanly made cisterns or wells. Springs of water were preferred as healthier and more natural. Cisterns were often broken and leaky and limited even when properly working in what they could hold.
In our text when Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He spoke of "living water"...
• He approached her for a drink on His way to Galilee - John 4:3-8
• She was amazed that He, a Jew, would speak to her, a Samaritan woman - John 4:9
-- Jesus used the opportunity to tell her about "living water" – John 4:10-14
I believe "the gift of God" and "living water" are one and the same thing. That "living water" in John 4:10-14 may be an allusion to the gift of the Holy Spirit comes from examining the nature of this "living water" described by Jesus both here and in John 7. For example, ...
What are the attributes of the Living Water?
1. THE LIVING WATER MUST BE DRUNK
(A) AS EXPRESSED BY JESUS...
• "...whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst" - John 4:14
• "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink" - John 7:37
(B) DO WE "DRINK" THE HOLY SPIRIT...?
1) Yes, upon our conversion
i) Those who repent and are baptized receive the gift of the Spirit - Acts 2:38-39
ii) Those who are baptized are made to "drink" of the Spirit 1Corinthians 12:13
2) Yes, as we continue to seek to be filled with the Spirit
• We are not to be drunk with wine, but filled with the Spirit Ephesians 5:18-19
• The implication may be that filling comes through "drinking"
• How do we continue to drink of the Spirit? I would suggest in these ways:
(i) Singing and making melody in our heart - Ephesians 5:18-19
(ii) Feeding upon the Word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit - Ephesians 6:17
(iii) Praying for strength through the Spirit - Ephesians 3:16; cf. Lk 11:13
[Thus, we see a similarity between the "living water" of Jesus and what is said concerning the Spirit and the Christian. The similarity continues ...]
2. THE LIVING WATER QUENCHES THIRST (You must be thirsty)
(A) AS EXPRESSED BY JESUS...
• "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst." - John 4:14
• "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." - John 7:37
(B) DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT "QUENCH THIRST"...?
1. Yes, as prophesied by Isaiah - cf. Isaiah 44:3
2. Yes, if by quenching our thirst one means meeting our spiritual needs
• Such as our need for the love of God - cf. Romans 5:5
• Such as our need for our love for God - cf. Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6
• Such as our need to mortify the flesh - cf. Romans 8:12-13
• Such as our need to abound in hope - cf. Romans 15:13
• Such as our need for inner strength - cf. Ephesians 3:16
[In many ways, the Spirit quenches our spiritual thirst! As we continue to note the similarity between "living water" and the Spirit in the life of the Christian, we next observe ...]
3. THE LIVING WATER IS IN YOU
(A) AS EXPRESSED BY JESUS ...
• "the water that I shall give him will become in him..." – John 4:14
• "out of his heart..." - John 7:38
(B) IS THE HOLY SPIRIT "IN" US ...?
• Yes, our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit – 1 Corinthians 6:19
• Yes, for the Spirit dwells in us if we are Christ's - Romans 8:9,11
Jesus Christ blesses all who believe in Him with rivers of living water so that we will be satisfied in Him and so that we become a source of blessing to others. The rivers flow out of us to others who are thirsty. The world is a barren desert, and people are dying of thirst. You and I are to be the rivers of living water that these dying people need. As they see Christ in us (the fruit of the Spirit) and want what we have, we can tell them how they can come to Jesus and drink. Lost people desperately need what only we who have believed can give them.
Illustration: If you only come to church to get something for yourself, you’ll be like the Dead Sea. It’s so salty that nothing can live in it because it has rivers flowing into it, but nothing flows out of it. When you come to church, come with the prayer, “Lord, fill me with your Spirit and flow out of me toward those who may be thirsty.” As you allow the rivers to flow out of you to others, you’ll discover that you’re actually more filled than before you gave out! That’s the key to preventing burnout: Be satisfied in Christ and let His fullness flow through you to others.
[How the Holy Spirit indwells the Christian may be a mystery; that He does, there is no doubt. Note another similarity between "living water" and the Spirit in the life of the Christian ...]
4. THE LIVING WATER SPRINGS UP
(A) AS EXPRESSED BY JESUS...
• "a fountain of water springing up" - John 4:14
• "will flow rivers of living water" - John 7:38
(B) DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT "SPRING UP"...?
• Yes, by moving the Christian to "cry out" Abba, Father – Romans 8:15; Ga 4:6
• Yes, by helping the Christian to "abound" in hope - Romans 15:13
• Yes, by producing "fruit" in the life of the Christian - Galatians 5: 22-23
[The fruit of the Spirit truly refreshes the soul of the Christian as "living water" does the thirsty soul. Finally, note one more similarity between "living water" and the Spirit in the life of the Christian ...]
5. THE LIVING WATER RESULTS IN ETERNAL LIFE
(A) AS EXPRESSED BY JESUS...
• "a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." - John 4:14
• Note: the "living water" is not everlasting life itself, rather it results in everlasting life
(B) DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT "RESULT IN ETERNAL LIFE"...?
I. Yes, for through the Spirit we wait for the hope of righteousness - Galatians 5:5
II. That hope, of course, is eternal life - Titus 1:2
III. By the Spirit whom God poured out on us abundantly through Jesus...
• We are renewed and justified by God's grace - Titus 3:5-6
• Thus, made heirs according to the hope of eternal life - Titus 3:5-7
vi. And sowing to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life - Galatians 6:8
