Truth Continued: What Do You Believe?
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Did you know that people will pretty much believe anything? For instance, the percentage of Americans who believe:
That Elvis Presley is still alive: 10;
In reincarnation: 30;
In ghosts: 39;
That aliens have visited earth in the past 100 years: 53;
That the U.S. government is currently involved in cover-ups and conspiracies: 74. (Well, there may be something to that one!)
People will believe anything, but they will stop short of believing the most important thing. People will accept all kinds of theories and beliefs, but they won’t accept what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. The fact is, people are jaded!
The Truth About Us
The Truth About Us
Our key text today is going to be in John chapter 4. and presents to us a woman who is jaded as well. She has been around and around, riding the merry-go-round of life and she worn out from it. But, one day, Jesus Christ showed up outside her little town. She meets Him and He opens her eyes to the fact that there is a new life. A life that is free from the burdens and problems of the life she is now living. Jesus takes this jaded, hardened woman and He leads her to a place of trust.
John 4:3–7 (ESV)
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water.
This woman came to Jacob’s Well to draw water. But, she did not come when all the other women came. The women came to draw their water early in the morning, before the sun rose high into the sky. They came while it was still cool. History tells us that it was about a mile from town to the well where they came for water. Drawing and carrying water for the day was hot, sweaty work. While they were there, they caught up on the local gossip and enjoyed a few minutes by themselves, away from the pressures of living in a male dominated society.
Why did this one woman not come with the others? I think the answer can be found in verses 17-18 and verse 28.
The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
Verse 17 and 18 tells us that she is a woman of much experience. Perhaps she had been with men who belonged to some of the other women. Perhaps she was often the topic of their gossip as they drew water from the well.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
In these verses, this poor woman tries to argue religion with Jesus. At first, she sees Him as just another Jew, and she wants Him to know that she has some ideas about religion too. She talks about their religious differences, v. 9. She uses sarcasm and ridicule,
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever 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 to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Notice the little word “if” in verse 10. Regardless of what she thought she knew, Jesus points out to her that there is one thing she does not know. She does not know Who Jesus is and that is the main thing! Jesus tells her that “if” she only knew, she could ask Jesus for “living water” and she would be forever satisfied!
Left to herself, this woman might have died thinking that she was alright spiritually. Thank God that Jesus reached into her darkness and dispelled her ignorance about Himself and about the way of salvation!
(Note: Someone has said, “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” I say, “What you don’t know can send you to Hell!” Far too many people are living in ignorance when it comes to how to get to God. Many are like this woman in our text. They know just enough about the church and about Christianity to be a danger to themselves. There are many things about the Bible and about theology that you may never learn. Not knowing them will not keep you out of Heaven, nor will not knowing them send you to Hell. But, if you miss the main thing, you will never see Heaven and you will go to Hell. What is the main thing? Here it is:
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
That is the main thing. Don’t miss it!)
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Here she is, a woman with a checkered past, living a wicked life, v. 16-18, yet she feels that she is qualified to argue religion with the Lord Jesus Christ. She demonstrates a clear picture of hypocrisy in action!
(Note: People attempt to do this kind of thing all the time! Everybody thinks they are qualified to argue with God. They say, “Well, I think this or that”, or “I believe this way or that way”, or “I know what the Bible says, but…” What foolishness! Who do you think you are? Did you know that it does not matter what you think? Did you know that God really doesn’t care how you feel? Did it ever cross your mind that God’s Word is not up for debate?
The Truth About Christ
The Truth About Christ
We Serve a matchless Savior– The Bible tells us in verse 4 that
And he had to pass through Samaria.
“He must needs go through Samaria”. Most Jews went miles out of their way to go around Samaria to avoid coming into contact with them. The Jews hated the Samaritans! They were considered to be an inferior race because they were descended from Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles that had been placed in the land by the Assyrians.
Thank God that Jesus does not operate like other men! He did not care about their heritage. He did not care about the hated of others. He did not care about the racial lines drawn by ignorant men. He operates in the realm of grace! Jesus went to that place and sat on that well because He wanted to save this poor woman! Even His disciples were shocked by what Jesus had done,
Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
v. 27. If Jesus had acted like any other Jew, He would have passed this woman and her town by. But, He extended grace to them and brought salvation to Sychar!
(Note: Think about it! If you and I got what we deserved, we would have never gotten a second look from God. But, I praise God for a Sunday morning when Jesus said, “I must needs go through Forsyth!” He does not look at people on the basis of our wretched, sinful condition. He looks at us through eyes of love and grace!
God’s justice demands that you and I die for our sins, Rom. 6:23. But, when justice cried out to be satisfied, mercy answered and God sent Jesus to die in our place on the cross, Rom. 5:6-8. Now, in grace, He offers salvation to all who will come and be saved, Rev. 22:17.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever 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 to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Jesus works with this woman patiently. He took her where He found her and gently led her to where she needed to be. He brought her to the place where she was ready to hear about Him and about Who He was. Then, when He revealed Himself to her, v. 26, she was at a place where she was ready to believe on Him.
(Note: That is how the Lord always works with people. He takes us where He finds us and gently leads us along to the place of faith in Him. He is always the perfect gentleman! He stands at the door of man’s heart and He knocks,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
(Ill. “Knocks” is in the present tense, active voice. “He just keeps on knocking!”). He patiently waits until that door is opened and He can come in,
(Note: This is another reason why we should not be discouraged when we are praying for lost loved ones. God may be working in their lives, leading them along, and you just can’t see what He is doing. Be patient and keep praying. If the Lord has placed a burden on your heart for them, that in itself is evidence that He means to save them in His time!)
Jesus offers a matchless gift
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever 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 to eternal life.”
Jesus promised this woman that He could give her a drink of “living water”. He promised her that this water would satisfy her in the depths of her soul. I would imagine that this probably appealed to her. She had tried all types of physical relationships to satisfy the deep longings of her soul and they had all left her empty and thirsty. Sex had not satisfied her. Marriage had failed five times to satisfy her. Living in the depths of sin on the fringes of society had failed to bring her happiness. Here, Jesus offers her an opportunity to find everything she has been looking for, by merely receiving His offer.
(Note: The words “drinketh” in verses 13 and 14 are worth noting today. In verse 13, the word “drinketh” is in the “present tense, active voice”. What Jesus is saying in verse 13 is this, “Even if you keep on drinking the water from this well, you will get thirsty again.” However, the word “drinketh” in verse 14 is in the “aorist tense, active voice”. In verse 14, Jesus is saying, “But whosoever takes just one drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst…”
So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
When We know Jesus our focus changes........ When she hears that Jesus is the Messiah, v. 26. She has all the information she needs. She forgets about her mission to get some water from the well, v. 7. Now, she wants to tell others about the well of living water she has experienced! That “artesian well” Jesus spoke of in verse14 is starting to flow and she cannot keep it in. She is different and she wants others to experience it too!
“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
WHen She Knows the Savior her approach changes – Notice that she runs to tell the men about Jesus. Why the men? They all knew her, many probably knew her intimately! The other women hated her, but the men loved her. So, she runs to the very people who had shared her life of sin. Imagine how their curiosity is piqued when she comes running in their direction. However, this time things are different! When you get to know Christ, there will be a noticeable change in your actions and outlook!!
The Truth about the Saviour changes our outlook.... Notice how this woman moved from not knowing Jesus to proclaiming Him as the Messiah.
The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
In verse 9, He is a “Jew”. In verse 11,
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
she calls Him “Sir”. In verse 19, she sees Him as a “Prophet”.
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
By verse 29, she has reached the place where she calls Him “Christ”.
“Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
She sees Him as the need of her soul. How did she make the progression from antagonism to acceptance? She was led along gently, by the Lord. He brought her from knowing nothing about Him to seeing Him as her only hope in just a few minutes. It was a work of grace!