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Sabbath, July 16, 2005 Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church
John 4:4-42 Pastor Tom Hughes

“LIVING WATER”

We’re going to be studying in the book of John, chapter four and we’re going to be looking at the woman at the well. We’re going to see what Jesus has to teach us in the way He related to this lovely lady, the woman at the well.

“Father in heaven as we study about the woman at the well, we pray that we might learn something about You that will help us to love others more. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

1Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2(though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4But He needed to go through Samaria.
5So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

Now let me talk to you for just a minute about Samaritans. Samaritans have one of the oldest Biblical scrolls in history. A very, very old scroll and it’s beautifully detailed; it’s a piece of artwork.

The Samaritans were also very crafty. They were so cunning they could swindle the Jewish people. They were very crafty. As a matter of fact, in Jesus’ day they had a saying, “Crafty as a Samaritan.” The Samaritans also had some very weird practices. For instance you couldn’t marry a Samaritan unless you were a Samaritan – and they were all from the same bloodline. And the Jews said they weren’t Jewish, and the Samaritans said they were. They claimed to be descendants of Jacob. Joseph, I believe was given that land where this well is.

And so there was an argument between the Jews and the Samaritans about whether they were part of the family or not, and the Jews said they weren’t, and the Samaritans said they were. And the Samaritans felt like second-class citizens. They were always arguing with the Jews. They felt that because Jacob was a great patriarch and he owned that well and he lived there that their property where they lived was the best. And the Jews were constantly telling them that “No, Jerusalem is the only place to worship God. That’s God’s holy mountain; not here, where Jacob worshiped.”

And so the Samaritans and the Jews were always having a big argument over who was the greatest; who was the best. And the Jews said, “You have to come to Jerusalem and worship on that holy mountain.” The Samaritans said, “No, you have to worship here where Jacob worshiped.” So the Samaritans kind of felt like second-class citizens. They were discriminated against. They were the racially inferior according to the Jews and they resented the Jews for that.

Now let me tell you something about women in Jesus’ day. Ladies, for your husband to divorce you; by the way, it was illegal for you to divorce him, it was illegal for you to own property; as a matter of fact, legally, you were property. You weren’t a woman, you were a piece of property, like a cow is a piece of property. And this is what your husband had to do if you didn’t make his eggs the way he liked, and he got mad at you: He could say to you, “I divorce you. I divorce you. I divorce you.” three times and that was the end of you. You were out.

Now if he divorced you and pronounced you divorced, and told you to leave his home and you didn’t leave his home, all he had to do is send for the temple guards and they would come and forcibly eject you from your home. You would be put on the street, no self-respecting man would have you because any woman who was divorced was a jaded and perverse woman and no man would marry a divorced woman.

Things have certainly changed here but in the Middle East it’s still the same. I don’t know if you’ve noticed about the Taliban and all this stupid stuff with the Arabs in the Middle East and the way they treat their women and what a big deal it is that they all came out and voted in the Iraqi election, but women are still treated that way there. It’s still illegal for a woman to divorce a husband in Saudi Arabia and not the other way around. I mean, the Middle East was like this, and is.

And so women who were divorced were either often prostitutes or beggars because they couldn’t get a job. No one would hire them, they were a marked woman, nobody wanted anything to do with them. They were just lower; the lowest class in society.

Now in that context, I want you to see this morning how Jesus treated people. And from time to time because of my emphasis on the Gospel, and on the love of God, I time to time have people say, “But what about obedience?”

“What about the law?”

“What about obeying God’s law”

How important is it to be obedient? It’s very important because you will never know a true relationship that’s really, really intimate and close if you don’t obey. If you don’t obey God, if you only accept His grace, but refuse to obey Him, you’ll never be as close to God as you could be if you would be an obedient child.

Now I have several grandchildren. I have one grandson who worships the ground I walk on; loves me to death, sits at my feet, and anything I’m willing to say it’s like a pearl dropping from the oyster. I mean this kid love me. He thinks like me, they call him “Little Tom.” I mean he has the same ears I have, same cowlicks in his hair I have, and he was one of my first [grandchildren], so we’re very close.

I have another grandson who cannot care less if I’m on the planet. All he cares about is “Nana.” I will talk to this grandson on the phone. “Hi, Stratton. How ya doin?” “Where’s Nana? Can I talk to Nana?” He hit me and said to my wife, “I wanna marry you. Not him.” Now we all know what’s goin’ on there! That Oedipus family is just a strange family! He’s in love with his Nana cause she treats him so good.

And what I’m trying to tell you is, when I tell him to do something, he just, you know, kind of looks at me and does what he wants. But my other grandson, when I tell him, I don’t even have to even say anything. I can just look at him and nod, and he already knows what I’m thinking. We’re on the same wavelength. We have our radio stations tuned to the same number. He can just look at me and he knows what I want and he does it. If I ask him to do something he doesn’t even question he just does it! Now I love ‘em both the same, but which one am I going to be closer to?

I want you all to remember Romans 13:10. “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

When you love people, the way Jesus loved people you are being obedient.

You are keeping God’s law.

You are being an obedient Christian.

There’s no conflict between God’s law and obedience and God’s grace. One makes the other possible. And the more you love God, the more obedient you will become. Amen?

Now let’s see how Jesus treated this woman.

7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

So the Jews had no dealings with her. They wouldn’t talk to her, they wouldn’t acknowledge she was alive or existed, and she was a woman.

Now does she seem to you like a woman who’s afraid to talk to Jesus? No! Not at all.

10Jesus answered and said to her, “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.”

So Jesus takes His hook, puts a worm on it, throws it into the pond, and that worm is called “curiosity.” Did you ever notice some Adventists have to tell you everything they know and more? Jesus didn’t do that. He made ‘em curious. And then when they got curios and asked for more, then He gave it to them. See?

Seventh-Day Adventists, “Oh, why do you people keep the Sabbath?” Three hours later, you’ve already told them about the Sabbath, the state of the dead, the Second Coming, and, God forbid, the Sanctuary service! You’ve already lost ‘em. Their eyes glazed over when you talked about the red heifer (Numbers 19) for a half an hour. Anyway, Jesus didn’t do that. He gave them the living water first.

Now that’s why the first year I’m in a district I really emphasize God’s grace, and salvation, and giving your heart to Christ, and becoming a spiritual person, being born again. I want every one of my church members converted. They are much easier to deal with when they’re converted! So the first year, I just want to make sure you’re converted. That’s all I care about. Okay? If you’re not converted, you’ll nail me to a cross! So we talk a lot about salvation the first year! There’s a reason for that.

So Jesus says to her, “I will give you living water. And if you have my living water, you’ll never have to drink again!” So she says to Him,

11“…‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?’”

“You don’t even have a pot! You don’t even have a way to…a bucket!…You can’t even get the water out of the well and you’re promising me ‘living water!’ Yeah, right!”

You know, I kind of like her. She’s not afraid to disagree! This woman is not afraid to say what she thinks. [Do] you know anybody like that? Have you ever met a woman like that who’s not afraid to say what she thinks? Do we have any women like that in this church?

12“Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

Woah! She says to Jesus, “Are you even greater than Jacob?” In other words, “You don’t even have a bucket, and who do you think you are! You presume to teach us and you’re a Jew?” Wow! That girl had get-up-and-go, didn’t she? She wasn’t afraid. She was arguing with Him.

13Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
14but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

“Why, young lady, if you’ll drink the water I’m going to give you, you’ll live forever! And you’ll never have to drink again.”

Did He make the sale?

15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water…”

I’d say He made the sale!

“…that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

She had to carry that big, heavy water pot and lug the water all the way back to camp. And, by the way, it says she came there the sixth hour. When was the sixth hour? Noon. The hottest part of the day – 110o in the shade. Why would she come at noon? When did all the women in the city come out to draw their water: Seven o’clock, six o’clock, when it was cool. Why did she come at twelve [o’clock] when all the other women came at six [o’clock]? She was ostracized, she was rejected, they didn’t like her. Why didn’t the women like her? We’d better keep reading.

16“Jesus said to her, ‘Go, call your husband, and come here.’”

Why did He do that? She said she wanted the living water, why did He change gears? Well, maybe, before she could drink the water He had to take care of some business.

17“The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
18for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’

Now didn’t I just tell you that if a woman was divorced that the men didn’t want her? Now here’s a lady who not only got one man to marry her again, she got give men to marry her – in the Middle East! – where they don’t want you if you’ve been divorced – where you’re damaged goods if you’ve been divorced!

Now what does that tell you about this woman? First of all we know she was intelligent ‘cause she was not afraid to interact intellectually with Jesus, and He’s no dumb person. So she was holding her own talking to the Prince of Peace. Okay? And she wasn’t afraid to speak to a man.

Now in Jewish society, could a woman speak to a man unless a man spoke to her first: No. Jesus did speak to her first when He said, “Give me a drink.” So she felt at liberty to speak. But usually they’re very cautious and very timid. Did she sound timid to you? No.

So here’s a woman whose had five husbands. Now that tells me either this gal is very intelligent or has a great body, or is gorgeous in the face – has a beautiful countenance like Esther. Or, like, Esther, maybe she’s fair of countenance and form, or, Oooo, all three!

So this woman, perhaps, was fair of countenance, and form, and intelligence. She had something going for her ‘cause she got five men to marry her. And here she is talking to Jesus. So this beautiful, intelligent woman who was totally ostracized by society talks to this guy and He says to her, “You’ve had five husbands and the guy you’re living with now isn’t your husband.” Now how would like it if a prophet said to you, “You’re shackin’ up with somebody”?

Now how would you treat a woman who was living with someone who was not married and who had been married four or five times? This is a Middle East, Elizabeth Taylor we’re dealing with here!

What does that tell you about Jesus -- when He treats her like an equal and talks to her with respect, and accepts her, and lets her know that He cares about her, and by his demeanor and the way He’s talking to her?
He opens her heart and she begins to share with Christ. And He gets right down to where she’s at, where she’s living.

People today, if someone is a single parent, or if someone has been divorced and remarried several times – people today tend to ostracize that person. They tend to look down on that person. But did Jesus?

When my daughter moved in with her boyfriend whom I like very much, by the way, I didn’t talk to her for a month! Not because I was angry with her, but because I didn’t know what to say to her and because I didn’t approve of what she did. But Jesus wouldn’t have treated her that way. I was wrong for being that kind of person. And I had to learn that you love people. And if you accept people you don’t agree with what they’re doing, but you love them anyway unconditionally.

You don’t put conditions on your love! Jesus didn’t say, “Oh, woman at the well, go and clean up your life and then come back and I’ll save you.” She was still living with a guy when Christ saved her soul! Now I’m sure her living arrangements changed in the weeks and months to follow but they didn’t have to change for her to come to Jesus.

And there she was. Now Jesus shines a spotlight on her life. And what does she do in verse 19: She changes the subject. And I don’t blame her a bit. If the prophet had zoomed in on my life and shined his spotlight on me that closely, I think I would change the subject, too.

19“The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.’
21Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
23But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
24God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”

We, as Seventh-Day Adventists, have the truth. We love the Bible. We understand it. We have an intellectual knowledge. Many people who are Pentecostal are more emotional. They tend to emphasize the Spirit. But just be careful: Every spirit in some of those churches is not the Holy Spirit. Okay?

When I go to speak in some of those churches, six times now I’ve gone with Debbie, and they have been doing the “tongues” thing – where they are not speaking with an interpreter like the Bible says [to] but they’re just all speaking at the same time in a chorus of confusion. And I’ve said to Debbie, and I’ve done this six or seven times – you can ask her if you don’t believe me – I say to her, “Watch what happens.”

And then, in a voice loud enough just for her or maybe a person or two to hear me, I’ll say, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I command that if there are any demons in this church to be silent and to leave this church!” Instantly, the [noise and confusion] stops when I say that, and there is dead silence in that church. Half a dozen times I’ve done that. And if I’m going to talk, I don’t want devils in the room.
But doesn’t the Bible say to praise the Lord? Doesn’t the Bible say to raise your hands and give praise and glory to God? Now some of us are more comfortable with an intellectual understanding but the Bible says the people God is seeking are those who worship Him in truth and in spirit. So, your second “Amen” was better than the first in the song. Because with your heart and your emotions, you said, “Amen.” Now, if you agree with that, would you say, “Praise the Lord”?

Now if Seventh-Day Adventists can be comfortable with the Word of God and sharing your emotions, and praising the Lord, then you have the heart and the head. And if you could just relax a little bit there are literally thousands of Pentecostal, Assemblies of God, Church of God that we could win to Christ! And the three angels’ messages doesn’t just go to all the quiet churches. Okay? It goes to everybody. So we have a lot of work to do, don’t we, and a lot of people we could win if we can just be relaxed – be willing to be like Jesus and accept people.

Now He says that God is spiritual and He is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Both are important. And God wants us to be like that.

25“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’
26Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”

Now remember the Pharisees. Every time they’d ask Jesus a question He would tell them a parable. He wouldn’t give ‘em a two by four to hit Him over the head with. “Are you the Messiah?”

“So say you.”

But when the woman at the well
this woman that was rejected by society,

this woman that nobody else thought much of – Jesus respected her.

And when she asked him “Are you the Messiah?” He said, “I am He.”—straight out.

If you’re open with Jesus, even if the society you live in rejects you, He’ll be open with you. Even if society looks down on you, Jesus never will. Even if no one else will accept you just the way you are, Jesus always will. Even if some self-righteous preacher looks down, or rejects, or feels bad toward his daughter, Jesus would never treat her that way. And I failed the test of being a true disciple because I did not love unconditionally! I’m a slow learner, but I am a learner!

She left her waterpot and ran into the town. But before she did, guess who came back: Oh! The twelve disciples! And they treated her so warmly and kindly when they came back, didn’t they? Well let’s see how they reacted to her.

27“And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’

“Oooh! He’s talking to a woman! And a Samaritan!”

Do you think she felt welcome? Do you think the way they looked at her and treated her she felt very welcome? I doubt it.

Now why did she leave her waterpot?
She was coming back? Any other reason? She got the news; she was so excited she couldn’t wait to go tell somebody. Right? Do you think she felt welcome? Not by the disciples! Maybe she didn’t feel welcome, she left the waterpot. I think, maybe she kind of, like Jesus, wanted to leave it there so He could get some water. I don’t know. We can think of a bunch of reasons. Can’t we? Anyway, she left that waterpot and she headed back into town, and notice what it says.

28“The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,”

Notice she was very popular with the men. She was able to get the men to come, okay –
not the women. Maybe the men were sitting at the city gates. Maybe they were the elders of the city.

29“ ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ 30Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’”

Jesus, from verse 32 to 36 was so excited about His “catch,” this woman that loved Jesus this woman that He led to Himself, He was so excited He said, “I don’t even want to eat. I’m so excited about this woman that everybody else rejects. She’s coming to Me now. The Samaritans are coming to Me. This talented, intelligent, articulate woman, who was seeking pleasure in worldly things, in attracting men, looking for her identity in having men; one man after another, seeking pleasure in a worldly way – this woman is not going to lead a whole village to Me. She’s now going to be one of my instruments. She’s now going to be one of My evangelists. I’m so excited I can’t even eat! Look at the harvest. The harvest is coming. I’m staying here for two days and I’m going to win all these souls.”

32“But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat of which you do not know.’
33Therefore the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?’
34Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.’

He didn’t even want to eat He was so excited. And then in verse 39 it says:

39“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’
40So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
41And many more believed because of His own word.
42Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.’”

What does that tell you about Jesus? It tells us that: He loves us no matter what; even if we’re living in sin itself, He will accept us. It tells us that He loves women, that He treated women as equals. It tells us that no matter what you’ve been through, ladies, whether you’re a single parent who’s been divorced, or a married woman who’s in a difficult situation, or a happily married couple. Or maybe you’re a single lady who’s not married at all.



But what it tells me is that Jesus loves us all right where we’re at, that we don’t have to change, that we can come to Him just as we are. And here’s this woman who was so argumentative, and so mouthy, and so willing to take on the male world – men liked this woman, and she like them, but she never met a man like Jesus. And all the worldly things she ever tried could never satisfy her soul. But Jesus satisfied her soul.

Closing Hymn: “Fill My Cup, Lord” words and music by Richard Blanchard (1925 - )

Like the woman at the well I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy;
And then I heard my Savior speaking:
“Draw from My well that never shall run dry.”

Chorus
Fill my cup, Lord.
I lift It up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my
soul;
Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more –Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasure earthly things afford;
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

Chorus

So, my children, if the things this world gave you
Leave hungers that won’t pass away,
My bless-ed Lord will come and save you,
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray:

Chorus


Closing Song: No. 493, “Fill My Cup, Lord” Seventh-Day Adventist Hymnal, 1985, Review and Herald Publishing Association

All Scriptural References: New King James Version

Ellen G. White References: www.whiteestate.org

Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

This sermon is also available on cassette tape.

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