John 4:1-15 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. Back in the Gospel of John this morning. The Gospel of John will be beginning chapter 4 this morning.

[0:15] We wrapped up chapter 3 last week after, I believe, two Sundays in chapter 3. Last week we covered kind of the latter portion of chapter 3, and this was when John's disciples, those of you that were here, John's disciples, if you'll recall, came to him and said, basically, hey, that fellow down there with you at the river, he's got more disciples than you do now.

[0:45] And it was kind of an almost challenging statement that they made, maybe even envious and some jealousy there.

[0:56] We talked about that a little bit last week. But anyway, that portion of chapter 3 went on into John, the Baptist, speaking of Jesus, and of course, you know, exalting Jesus saying basically when these fellows come to him and said, this guy's got more disciples than you do, John was saying, that's fine.

[1:20] That's the way it's supposed to be. We talked a little bit and brought up chapter 1 when we went through it and how John had written then that John the Baptist was not the light, but he was sent to testify of that light.

[1:38] And that's exactly what John the Baptist was doing. So John was telling these men that come to him saying this, that it was fine. That's the way it was supposed to be. He said, remember, he said, Jesus must increase, but I must decrease.

[1:53] And that should be all of our attitude. Christ must be exalted. And if Christ is to be exalted, we've got to be made low. We can't raise ourselves up on a pedestal and expect to uplift the name of Jesus Christ at the same time.

[2:09] That's an impossibility I'm talking about personally in each one of our lives. You know, I can exalt myself and Christ can still be exalted, but not through me, not in pride, not if I'm being prideful.

[2:22] Christ can still be uplifted, though, whether I'm doing it or not. But anyway, that's a real quick summation of the end of chapter 3.

[2:33] We'll begin with chapter 4. Chapter 4 is kind of a special place in my heart, if you're unafraid. At the first sermon I ever preached came from John chapter 4. And it wasn't about the woman at the well. It was about a worshiping God and spirit and then truth.

[2:48] But I'll never forget when I felt like that's what the Lord laid on me was John chapter 4. I'll never forget, you know, basically praying or talking to God or almost arguing with God.

[3:02] Not that that would do any of us any good, but thinking, come on, Lord, everybody knows about the woman at the well. But that's not what I ended up preaching. I ended up preaching worshiping God and spirit and then truth.

[3:14] But anyway, it's just a little bit of my own history. But beginning in the Gospel of John chapter 4, now before we begin this, I'd like to say we're going to be referring back to John chapter 3 quite a bit as we go through the first several verses of John chapter 4 here.

[3:35] I don't know how far we might get, but there's some comparing to John chapter 3. And Jesus' conversation that he had with Nicodemus. There's some comparison. There's some contrasting that I'd also like to get into.

[3:50] So just so that you're aware of that. Anyway, John chapter 4 verse 1 says, When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.

[4:12] So back to verse 1, When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard. So here we have the omniscience of Jesus Christ, the omniscience of God displayed.

[4:26] It doesn't say when the Lord was made aware of. It doesn't say when the Lord learned that the Pharisees knew that he had more disciples than John, that he was baptized.

[4:40] It simply says, When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.

[4:56] So again, we have the Lord's omniscience. It's all knowingness displayed here in these verses. He left Judea and departed again into Galilee. Why would he have done this?

[5:10] It almost appears that Christ was running, that he was afraid of the Pharisees, that he was afraid of the religious leaders. Folks, that wasn't the case at all.

[5:24] Jesus was afraid of no man. Jesus told us within the Gospel accounts that we shouldn't fear man, that we should fear God who has power to turn both body and soul into hell.

[5:40] So if Jesus is telling us not to fear man, I can promise you Jesus himself did not fear man. So it wasn't because that he was afraid of the Pharisees or these religious leaders.

[5:52] Jesus's hour had not come at this point. His time was not at hand. It wasn't time for him to be arrested and brought into a legal trial and be crucified and all those things.

[6:03] And these would have been the reasons that he would have went. Not to mention, he had an entire ministry. Remember, this is fairly early in the ministry of Jesus Christ.

[6:15] I mean, we read in John chapter 2 about the beginning of his ministry. And here we are just in John chapter 4. The beginning of his ministry, as far as John's account goes, being when he turned the water into the wine, there Bethany.

[6:32] So, you know, just two chapters separating here. So we're fairly early in the ministry of Jesus. So Jesus had a lot of things to do. So he didn't depart because he felt that he had to for fear of his life or anything along those lines.

[6:48] He departed because this was the foreordained way that it was supposed to be from the time before the foundations of the world were ever made.

[6:59] So I just don't want anybody to have it in their head that he was afraid. Verse 4, and he must needs go through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. Now, I've heard it and you all may or may not have heard it preached or taught that for him to go from Judea back into Galilee, that there was a more direct route than going through Samaria.

[7:25] If you look at ancient maps, that's not the case at all. In fact, Samaria was the most direct route to get from Judea into Galilee. So I don't know who first come up with that or what map that they were looking at.

[7:40] But every map that I've got at the house, I've got a lot of them Missy will testify to it. Going directly through Samaria was the most direct route between those two places.

[7:52] Now there was a circuit or like I have circle route that most Jews took to go around Samaria because they didn't want to deal with the Samaritans. And we'll get into that here in just a little while.

[8:05] But the most direct route between point A and point B here was directly through Samaria. And he must needs go through Samaria. Why must he go through Samaria?

[8:16] Those of us that are familiar with John 4 and the account of this Samaritan woman, this woman from Sakaar there at the whale, that was his need to go through Samaria.

[8:29] It was for no other purpose but that, that he went through Samaria. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria which is called Sakaar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.

[8:46] Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being worried with his journey set us on the will and it was about the sixth hour. So back to verse 5. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria which is called Sakaar near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.

[9:06] Now this was, if you want to go back in your Bible or back into exactly when all this took place, this would have taken place in Genesis and there was actually a parcel of ground that was indeed purchased by Jacob.

[9:23] And this parcel of ground is still over there right now and still kind of staked out. It's still going to make it out. Jacob's well is still to this very day over there.

[9:37] However, there is a church that's built over top of it right now. There was a Byzantine church that was first built over top of it. Now there's a slightly more modern church built over top of this well.

[9:50] But folks, these churches that I'm talking about here, they, that's kind of our confirmation, not just because of Bible, but that is our modern day confirmation that that would indeed be Jacob's well.

[10:02] That's what they done with places like this and it wasn't just Christians and it wasn't just Jews that did that. People of all different cultures, when something significant took place at a site, they would build over top of it.

[10:16] They would build monuments near or on those places or those parcels of ground, whatever the case was. And so, so, like I said, currently there is a church that is built over top of this well right now in 2023 over there where this happened.

[10:33] And it says, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sackard, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Now he said, the scripture says he came near to this parcel of ground and it says that Jacob's well was there.

[10:51] This would have been the well that Jacob himself and his sons would have dug. Why would they have dug a well there? Well, he bought this parcel of ground and if you read over in the book of Genesis, Jacob wasn't lacking for a whole lot.

[11:08] I mean, he had herds, he had flocks, he had animals that needed to be watered. He had a large family that needed to be watered. I mean, water is something that, you know, it's water is not something we can go without.

[11:22] We need it literally to live, to be sustained in this life. And so if he bought a parcel of ground, he's not going to go, you know, 50 miles down the road to dig his well.

[11:33] He's going to dig his well on the parcel of ground that he bought. And so once again, that kind of confirms the area that Jacob would have bought over there where this well is now.

[11:47] Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being worried with his journey, sat thus on the well and it was about the sixth hour. So the sixth hour being about noon, being about 12 p.m.

[12:00] The hottest part of the day is when the sun is up right in the sky and the heat of it's beating down on everybody who can hardly find shade of any kind. Anything along those lines is about the sixth hour of the day.

[12:15] But what I really want you to concentrate on here though is it says Jesus was worried. He was worried in his journey. He was not, he was tired.

[12:27] And this speaks of the humanity. We spoke there in verse one about the omniscience of the Lord. Here we're talking about the humanity of Jesus Christ. He was worried in his journey.

[12:40] He was just like you or I, one would be. If I had traveled all this way and I finally found a well or a bench or a rock or something to sit on, yes, I would have rested just as Jesus Christ did here.

[12:59] So we've gone from talking about the omniscience of Jesus Christ in the first verse to talking about the humanity of Jesus Christ. Therefore confirming that he was indeed, well here on this earth, he was the God man.

[13:12] He was all God and he was all man, 100% both ways. And there is no way of getting around that as per the scriptures. People will argue that. People will say Jesus was a spirit that took on bodily form.

[13:27] People will say that all kinds of weird stuff. People will say that Jesus was just a man. Then the Father sent the Holy Spirit and endowed him with power.

[13:38] And then just before Jesus Christ was crucified, the Father took his spirit away and therefore just a man died there on that cross. And folks, that ain't what the Bible says. The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was God, is God, and ever will be God.

[13:56] And it was that way the entire time that he was here on the earth. So when you hear some of these heretical teachings that I was just talking about, just dismiss those. The Bible says otherwise.

[14:07] But while he was here, he was all God and he was all man. Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being weary with his journey set thus on the well. And it was about the sixth hour. There comeeth a woman of Samaria to draw water.

[14:20] Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. There comeeth a woman of Samaria to draw water. And what time of the day was it? We just read it. It's the sixth hour of the day when it's the hottest outside.

[14:34] This would also mean that that water at the bottom of that well would have been at its warmest point. This is also the most worrisome part of the day. This is the part of the day where nobody wants to be doing any type of work that they don't have to be.

[14:49] And this woman shows up. This woman from Samaria shows up to the well. And Christ knew all along she was going to show up there. It wasn't any surprise to Jesus.

[15:00] This is why he must needs go through Samaria. It wasn't just because that was the most direct route between point A and point B. It was because he knew that there was a woman there that needed salvation.

[15:13] Now, in comparison to John chapter 3 in this conversation that Christ had with Nicodemus, Nicodemus came to Jesus.

[15:25] Did he not? This woman came to Jesus. Unbeknownst to her that she was going to be coming to Jesus, but she came to Jesus. So that's a comparison. But Nicodemus came by night.

[15:36] This woman come by day. Once again, she didn't know Jesus was going to be there. No, she had no clue. She had no clue what was waiting up there at the well for her. But nevertheless, we got night.

[15:48] We got day. And here, he says, they're coming to the woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. Jesus initiated the conversation with this woman.

[16:00] However, in the account with Nicodemus, Nicodemus initiated the conversation. Why didn't Nicodemus come to Jesus by night? What was his whole reason for coming?

[16:12] What did he say? He said, Master, we know that you're a great teacher. We know that you're from God. No other man could do these things. This woman here has no clue who is sitting here on this well.

[16:25] No clue whatsoever whom she's having a conversation with. No clue whatsoever, as Jesus says here in the next verse or two. It was the very Son of God.

[16:36] It was the very one that could offer her living water. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. 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?

[16:55] And this is the picture that is painted throughout the New Testament. Any time you read about the Jews and Samaritans and what they thought of each other, they had no deals with each other.

[17:10] They hated each other's guts. And one reason for this, in fact, the main reason as far as the Jews were concerned, was because the Samaritans were considered half-breed Jews.

[17:22] They weren't 100% Jew. And you can actually read about this over in the Old Testament. You can read it starting in 2 Kings in chapter 17. And you can see where the king of Assyria sent people from other nations into Samaria to settle.

[17:39] And there were still some Jews there, even though the Jews had been carried into captivity. There were still some Jews that were there, but these people from other nations were coming in to settle.

[17:51] And this is what started the whole half-breed Jew thing. There used to be, in fact, up until recent, I don't know, millennia or so, but back in the Bible days, up until that time, until 1200, maybe even 1400 AD, there was a thought that a lot of kings and a lot of armies and a lot of generals had.

[18:21] And that thought was if you can't drive the people out and if you can't kill them all, breed them out. And that was the thought in these heads. And so this Assyrian king, and everybody always hated the Jews, I mean, the Jews have been hated ever since there was a Jew.

[18:39] Satan's always hated the Jews. There's been different sects of people that's always hated the Jews. To this day, the Jews are a hated people among most nations of the world.

[18:52] In fact, if you look at the political realm of things right now, the United States is about the only friend Israel has, and that friendship has backslid horribly in recent years, recent decades, really.

[19:07] I won't blame it on one administration or another because it started a long time ago. But the Jews have always been a hated people. But this Assyrian king, in 2 Kings chapter 17, he brings people in from other nations to settle in Samaria.

[19:22] And that's what got the whole ball rolling on this thing. And then you read over in the book of Nehemiah, you read where some of these Samaritans came to the Jews when they came to rebuild the temple, and they came to rebuild the wall, and all these things were going on, and they had done been released by Darius to go and do so.

[19:42] And you read where some of these Samaritans come to the Jews basically to make an alliance with them. They said, hey, we want to help you build this temple. We want to worship your God with you.

[19:53] And the Jews said, no, we'll build this temple, and we will build it to our God to worship him. They didn't want their help. And that's kind of what started the whole tension between the Samaritans and the Jews.

[20:06] Because the Samaritans said, well, they don't want any dealings with us. And it continued from their own outset, not only, and it actually kind of turned into the whole half-breed thing. That became the insult for them from the Jew towards the Samaritan.

[20:22] But the whole thing started really as far as a scriptural account as far as I can tell when the Jews refused the help of the Samaritans. And the Samaritans took offense to that.

[20:35] And they became one of the biggest hindrances that the Jews had to rebuilding the temple once they started coming back into the homeland that God had promised them.

[20:48] So that's kind of the history that we're talking about here when this woman says that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. Now, she recognized Christ as a Jew. Don't you think that they were to look somewhat alike?

[21:02] I mean, kind of sort of. Honestly, if you look at a Samaritan or someone from that area nowadays, and you can go on Google and Google Pictures and look at a true blue Jew, they're very similar in the way that they look. They're very extremely similar.

[21:20] But what would have been the difference that she would have noticed in Jesus? It wasn't the glory coming off of him. She still didn't know that this was the Messiah that was sitting here. There wasn't anything along those lines.

[21:32] But his dialect, the way that he spoke, and the way that he dressed would have been what gave him away. Remember, this woman was a Samaritan. These people over in 2 Kings 17, like I was talking about earlier, they would have married into these pagan and heathen nations and cultures, and they would have dressed differently.

[21:50] They would have acted differently. They would have talked differently. Folks, that's why you hear me say over and over and over that if any man being Christ, he is a new creature, according to what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church.

[22:02] And if we are new, we don't do the things that we used to do. We don't do the things of the world. We don't dress like the world. We don't act like the world. We don't speak like the world. Jesus Christ would have spoken in a different dialect and he would have been dressed differently.

[22:18] And that's what would have given him away as a Jew. This woman recognized that he was a Jew and said to the woman Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask a drink of me?

[22:33] Now, this is a significant question, not just because of basically the racial tension that was between these two parties, or at least from the Samaritan to the Jew to Jesus.

[22:49] Because I don't believe there's any tension at all between Jesus and coming from Jesus toward her. But it's significant because Jesus did ask her for something. He asked her for a drink of water.

[23:02] What is it that any of us can give to Jesus Christ? Still in a lost state. This woman hadn't been saved. This woman hadn't believed.

[23:13] She still didn't know who she was dealing with. We can give nothing to Jesus. We can do nothing for him, but yet Christ asked her to give him to drink.

[23:26] She could give nothing to drink. Although she had the means of doing so, I mean she showed up to the well to draw water, did she not?

[23:37] She had the means of drawing the water. She had the means of, I'm sure, pouring the water. But really and truly, when it boils down to it, a lost person can do nothing for Jesus Christ in a spiritual sense.

[23:52] Now, these people that go to some churches and they just as lost as lost can be, and they jump up and down, they shout and scream and holler and they raise their hands, they might sing songs, they might even stand in the pulpit and preach sermons.

[24:06] But if they're lost, it's not doing Christ any good and it's not doing the church any good and it's not exalting anyone spiritually. That's a picture that I want you all to have in your head.

[24:18] Then say it to the woman of Samaria. How is it that thou being a Jew askest me, askest drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans?

[24:29] 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 wouldst have asked him and he would have given thee living water.

[24:41] Now, that last line that we just read of Jesus confirms to me what I just told you all, that she had nothing to offer Jesus. But he says, if you knew who I was, you would have been the one asking of me, asking of me instead of me asking of you, if you understood who I was.

[25:03] But back to the beginning of the verse, Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, now notice how differently Jesus is dealing with this woman from Samaria as opposed to John 3 when he's dealing with Nicodemus.

[25:23] Remember who Nicodemus was? A Pharisee. He was a master. He was a teacher of Israel. He had everything religious going for him. He knew the law and he knew it well. He knew the Old Testament Scriptures and he had his formalities. He had his ceremonies.

[25:38] He had all of these things and Jesus, it seems, rebuked him a little bit harder than he is this woman here at the well. And that tells me that even though the Holy Spirit of God, when he deals with individuals, he does it on an individual basis. He won't convict you over sin that I have committed.

[26:02] He convicts me over the sin that I have committed. And as far as the human aspect of it goes, what we might think of it, I might think that a sin is 10 times more dreadful than something that someone else has done.

[26:17] But sin is sin is sin in the eyes of a God that has never committed sin. I might see it that way. You might see it that way, but God sees it differently.

[26:28] However, how we are dealt with by the Holy Ghost of God is an individual thing. Just like it's an individual salvation, it's a personal salvation that I have with Almighty God.

[26:43] This woman was having a personal conversation with God himself and he was about to convict her of her own sin, not the sin of her mother, not the sin of her father, not the sin of some other woman that was there in Sakaar at the time.

[27:00] He was going to convict her of her own sin. He said, if thou knewest the gift of God, what did he tell Nicodemus? He said, you must be born again. And he told him again, Marvel, not that I told you you must be born again.

[27:14] He doesn't say anything about being born again to this woman here, but he says, if thou knewest the gift of God, what is the gift of God? It's Jesus Christ Himself. It's salvation.

[27:25] If thou knewest the gift of God, if you knew who I was, if you knew who was sitting here before you right now and who it is that said to me, give me to drink.

[27:36] It's the same one that Jesus Christ told Nicodemus. He said that he must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, so much the Son of Man be lifted up. This is the same Jesus, but a different conversation with a different person, and it is being handled differently.

[27:54] But it's all being done for the same grand purpose to win people to Jesus Christ, to open their blinded eyes, that they might see their need for salvation that they can only have from Almighty God.

[28:08] Two different approaches, if you want to say it like that. But the same final outcome, to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, that they might repent of their ways and believe Him.

[28:22] Give me to drink. I'm sorry, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink. That would have asked Him, and He would have given thee living water.

[28:35] Remember, this whole conversation began with Jesus Christ saying, give me to drink. And this woman says, how can you ask me to do that? Being that the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, or vice versa for that matter.

[28:47] But he says, if you would ask me, he said, and He would have given me living water. If you would have just asked me. See, she began much like Nicodemus did.

[29:01] When Jesus first addresses Nicodemus, what is it that Nicodemus said? How? And she begins her inquiry to Jesus after Jesus has addressed her.

[29:12] How? How many of y'all done that before you got saved? I know I did. Once I realized who I was, once I realized my wretched state, once I realized just how much of a sinner I was, and how filthy I was.

[29:29] How can God save someone like me? How? And both of them replied to Jesus with the word how. Of course, Nicodemus was, how can a man be born again when he is old?

[29:44] This woman here asked the question, how is it that thou be in a Jew? They both begin with how, though. How is it that you can offer me this living water? Because he is the living water.

[29:55] That's how he can do it. He is the living water. He is life. Life itself, and he would have given thee living water. If you had asked me, I would have given it to you free of charge.

[30:08] You can do nothing to earn this. You can do nothing to obtain it. It's me that wants to give it to you. Me that sits here on this well. Praise God.

[30:20] Verse 11, the woman that saith unto him, serve thou as nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from which then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our Father Jacob, which gave us the well and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

[30:38] This woman is still confused, just like I was when I was under conviction, before I got saved. Again, I realized what kind of state I was in. I realized how lost I was.

[30:51] And yes, it was confusion. And I know that confusion wasn't from God, because the Bible plainly says that God is not the author of confusion. Satan had had me for so long, the demons had had me for so long, I was in bondage to my sin for all those years.

[31:07] And suddenly, there was an offer to be broken free of that. And that caused confusion, because they wanted confusion. Demons wanted confusion.

[31:18] The darkness wanted confusion. They wanted me right where I was at. But praise God, he broke me free. The woman saith unto him, serve thou as nothing to draw with, Jesus don't need anything to draw with.

[31:31] He gives the living water. He gives anything that he wants to give. He can. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the creator of the universe.

[31:44] He's the one that spoke everything into existence. He needed nothing to draw with. But this shows that the woman still didn't have a good understanding. Even though Jesus said, if thou knewest who I am, if thou knew who you were talking to, sitting on the side of this well here in Sychar, and the well is deep from wince then, hast thou that living water art thou greater?

[32:10] She starts making comparisons. Art thou greater than our father Jacob? Yes, he's greater than Jacob. And yes, he's greater than Isaac. And yes, he's greater than Abraham.

[32:22] Yes, he's greater than any of the Old Testament patriarchs. Yes, he's greater than Paul. And yes, he's greater than Peter. He's greater than John, the writer of this Gospel, than John the Baptist.

[32:33] Yes, he's greater than all of them. But this shows this woman still didn't get it at this point. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the will and drink thereof himself and his children and his cattle?

[32:46] Jesus entered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

[32:58] The woman saith unto him, sir, give me this water that I thirst not, and neither come hither to draw. So she's kind of getting it at this point. Like I, when I was under conviction, when God had showed me who I was and showed me who he was and showed me what he could do for me, it was starting to click with me.

[33:19] And I was in the midst of it. It was starting to click with me. But how does it click? It's not because of my own intelligence. It's not because of my own degree.

[33:32] It has nothing to do with me. It is God opening up blind eyes. It is God opening up a dark heart. It is God that cultivated the seed that had been planted there and cultivated the ground.

[33:47] And that ground was watered and everything was done that needed to be done. But it took God to open my eyes. I was not seeking after God. This woman was not seeking after God.

[33:59] She simply came to a well to get water, to get physical water to sustain her for another day or two in this life. She wasn't seeking God.

[34:11] Nicodemus thought that he was seeking God, but he really wasn't. He was seeking after maybe some of the things of God. He was seeking after the law, but he had prestige and he had knowledge.

[34:24] He had all these things going for him. This woman here is such a contrast to Nicodemus. Nicodemus had the admiration of the people. Nicodemus had people coming to him.

[34:37] This woman, everyone was avoiding her if we know her story here in the Scriptures. So it's starting to click with her here. 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.

[35:01] It shall be a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Now, I've heard some certain people use this very verse trying to justify basically people being lost and being saved again and them being saved again, being lost and saved and saved and lost.

[35:24] And they'll say one simple thing, well, wells dry up. Folks, in this Scripture here, 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.

[35:43] Everlasting is everlasting. Eternal is eternal. Immortal is immortal. Forever is forever. And this water, when it is given by Jesus Christ, when it is given by him, it springs up into a well of everlasting life.

[36:03] Now, when people come to us, if we have this well within us, if we have Jesus within us and people come to us, can we give everlasting life to them?

[36:15] Absolutely not. Only Jesus Christ can grant that. And I've seen this verse used for that very thing in some very dark and disturbing YouTube videos that I've seen.

[36:27] People will say, I saved this person. I gave them Jesus. I laid my hands on them. And God gave me power to do the healing work and their soul that they needed to go to heaven.

[36:40] I've seen people say this and use this verse for that because they have the well and because those people came to them looking to draw water. And that is not what Jesus Christ is saying here.

[36:51] When Jesus is on the inside, yes, it's a well that springs up into everlasting life. Can we give them a dose of Jesus Christ? Yeah, sure. Absolutely.

[37:02] Can we give them eternal life? Absolutely not. Only he who is life himself is able to impart eternal life. Only he who is life himself is able to impart that life.

[37:15] The woman says unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. So she's getting it, but she ain't getting it. Because she says, give me this water. I want what you're talking about.

[37:27] I want this water that springs up into a well and everlasting life. Because I don't want to come here and draw anymore. That shows that she still doesn't completely get it.

[37:38] You know, I'm glad when God saved me, I didn't completely get it. And to this day, I don't completely get it. I wish I could tell you that I do, but I don't. I wish I could tell you.

[37:49] I wish I knew as much about this book as some people out there think that I know about it. I put it that way. There's some people out there, I've heard them with my own ears, talk about how knowledgeable Spencer is in the Bible, and how knowledgeable he is about biblical history and Jewish history and Christian history and all these things.

[38:10] And I wish I knew as much as they thought that I knew. And it's not my portrayal to these people that makes them say that.

[38:21] I don't gloat about anything. I'll tell anybody that, as far as the Scriptures go, I know enough to lead somebody to the Lord. I know enough to tell them what the gospel is.

[38:33] I know enough to tell them they're a sinner and they need a Savior, and the cross does that only Savior. I know that much. She says, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not and neither come here to draw.

[38:48] She doesn't completely get it yet. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come thither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband.

[39:00] Jesus said unto her, thou hast well said, I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou hast is not thy husband. And that said thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

[39:14] Well, no, duh. Thou art a prophet. I perceive that thou art a prophet. But she's still not recognized in him as Lord. But when Jesus tells her, and when Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come thither.

[39:32] He knew exactly what he was doing, and he knew exactly how she was going to respond. It didn't surprise Jesus. Her response didn't. Nothing about this woman surprised Jesus. But again, this is another comparison that we can make between Nicodate and Jesus.

[39:48] And I know that you're going to see what we can make between Nicodemus being the religious ruler that he was, being of the moral character that he was, and this woman here.

[40:02] And you look at these two people, you look at Nicodemus, and as I said before, he had all of his religion, and all of his ceremonies, and his dress, and his garb, and the respect of people, and the people admiring him for everything that he had done.

[40:22] But Jesus could say to Nicodemus, I ain't saying that he did say it, but Jesus could say to Nicodemus, there is a woman over in Sychor that is an adulteress. She's filthy, she's rotten, she's had five husbands, she's shacked up with another one right now that ain't even her husband.

[40:42] She got all this going for her, and she is just as nearer to the kingdom of heaven as you are Nicodemus. Now that's a comparison, folks. Your sin is no less than my sin is, and anybody that you're witnessing to, anybody that you're trying to convince of their sin, and convince that Jesus Christ can save their soul, their sin is no more wicked than what yours is.

[41:12] And my sin is no more wicked than what mine is. We all need a savior, whether we're a Pharisee just oozing with religion, or whether we're an adulterous woman in a town of Sychor that no one wants anything to do with.

[41:28] It doesn't matter. We all need the same Jesus, and Jesus Christ will come to us in his own way, in his own individual terms, to confront you and to convict of the sin that you yourself have committed.

[41:46] And I'm going to stop her out there. We'll probably begin back at verse 15 next week again. Anybody got any questions or any comments on any of that? Alright, God bless you all.

[42:00] Thank you for watching.