NO. 2987<\/b><\/p>\n
A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST18TH, 1904,<\/b><\/p>\n
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,<\/i><\/p>\n
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON,<\/b><\/p>\n
ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 6TH, 1876.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d \u2014 John 4:11.<\/i><\/p>\n
THIS was a sensible and very important question. May the Holy Spirit graciously enable us to answer it aright! Our Lord\u2019s great object, in his talk with this woman at the well, was not to convince her of his oratorical power, for he spoke to her as simply is one would speak to a child. Many sermons are far too elaborate in their construction; they are evidently intended to display the preacher\u2019s own powers. But if we would imitate the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Prince of preachers, we should not strain after effect; and we should get a better effect, without any straining, by taking the living truth, and telling out, as simply as possible, the story of salvation.<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ\u2019s sole object, in talking with this woman, was to bring her to salvation. That is also my object with regard to my hearers and readers; and, my dear unconverted friend, if you shall agree with me in that object, and shall breathe the prayer, \u201cLord, help the preacher so to speak to my soul that I may filled Christ,\u201d there will be joy among the angels of heaven over sinners repenting and returning unto the Lord.<\/p>\n
Our Savior, in seeking to win this woman to himself, was completely successful. He hit, the mark he aimed at; his shot struck the very center of the target. Only one sermon was preached to her; \u2014 nay, it was hardly a sermon, \u2014 just a brief talk with her, and the woman received the living word. Alas! there are some of you, who have had a great many affectionate talks, from godly mothers and fathers, or from earnest ministers, teachers, or other Christian friends; but, so far, they have not been so successful as Jesus of Nazareth was on this occasion. You have heard many sermons; \u2014 you cannot tell how many you have heard, and some of them have produced some effect upon you; but, up to the present, you have not been slain by the sword of the Spirit, nor quickened by Jesus Christ the Life-giver. I hope the Lord is about to do what has not been done before; and, with the accumulated responsibility upon you of having heard the gospel so often in vain, I think you should the more earnestly breathe the prayer to God, \u201cO Lord, let this be the effectual time of speaking to me! Call me as thou didst the Samaritan woman. While the preacher is speaking, and I am listening to thy Word as it shall be proclaimed, graciously grant that Jesus may be revealed to my soul, and that he may say to me, \u2019I that speak unto thee am he.\u2019\u201d If you are brought to pray that prayer from your heart, I believe that it will be answered, and so, as I have already said, there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God over you. Our Lord aimed at this woman\u2019s conversion by simply instructing her, and also by bringing the truth home to her conscience. Let us see whether, if we do the same thing, trucking in the same Spirit that anointed our Master, similar results will follow here as followed at the well of Sychar.<\/p>\n
First, then, I am going to expound the teaching which preceded the woman\u2019s question, and suggested it<\/i>; then, secondly, I will answer the question<\/i>; and then, thirdly, I will draw some inferences from it.<\/i><\/p>\n
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I. <\/b>First, then, What Was It That Led This Woman To Ask Our Savior The Question, \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus Christ had told her that, had she known him, she would have asked of him, and he would have given her living water. There was Jacob\u2019s well; they were both of them close to it, and they could look down into it. There was some water in it, but the well of Sychar was not a well of \u201cliving water.\u201d You probably know that the expression which is translated \u201cliving water\u201d refers to water that springs up from a fountain; but the well of Sychar is not a well of that kind. The water in it is surface water, the gatherings of the neighboring hills; land water, not spring water. Jesus Christ seemed to draw his illustration from that fact: \u201cThe water in that well runs into it, and is drawn out from it; but if you had asked me, I would have given you water that bubbles up, \u2014 water that is full of life, very different from this well-water, \u2014 water from the great deep that \u2019coucheth beneath.\u201d You know the difference between those two sorts of water. I have illustrated it before by the two wells which are in the courtyard of the Doge\u2019s palace at Venice. One of them has its copper or bronze margin worn with holes cut by the string by which little cans are let down to fetch up the water that wells up from the spring; it is so precious because it springs up from a living fountain. The other well, which looks very like the one I have mentioned, is not worn at all. Very few people care to draw from it; and the reason is, because it is simply filled with water brought into the city. It is flat, dead water, not \u201cliving water\u201d at all. So Jesus Christ had used this illustration in speaking with the woman: \u201cYou have come here, to draw this water out of the well, \u2014 the mere rain water that runs into Jacob\u2019s well; but if you had asked of me, I would have given you water of a far better sort, \u2014 water with life in it, \u2014 water which would be life unto you, \u2014 water which would be in you a well of water springing up into everlasting life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman caught the figure, though she did not at first understand its spiritual meaning. Its spiritual meaning is this, \u2014 that Jesus Christ has grace in himself, \u2014 grace to give to sinners, \u2014 grace to give to those who ask him for it<\/i>; for he said to the woman, \u201cThou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.\u201d In the Lord Jesus Christ, then, there is a deep fount of grace always springing up within himself. \u201cIt pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell;\u201d and it does dwell in him. To him, the Spirit has been given without measure. There is no meagre supply of grace in Christ. He hath an abundance, and I might almost say a redundance for ever springing up within himself. And this he has on purpose to give away. He has it not for himself, for he needs it not. Almighty and ever-blessed as he is by nature, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, he needs no grace for himself; but what he has is all for him to give away. He came into this world to open up channels by which he might distribute all his grace to thirsty souls.<\/p>\n
And he gives it all away far the asking, \u2014 almighty grace to be had for the asking! No human merit can demand it, and no performance of any earthly ceremony is required in order to obtain it. Here it is in a nutshell: \u201cThou<\/i> wouldest have asked<\/i> and he would have given.\u201d \u201cIf any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God;\u201d and if any man lack pardon, let him do the same. If any man lack anything that is essential to his purity, to his happiness, to his present life, or to his future life, it is stored up in Christ, and it can be had from him far the asking. \u201cHe that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?\u201d<\/p>\n
The teaching of the text, to you unconverted people, is this: \u2014 if ever you are saved, it must be by the grace of God. That grace is in Jesus Christ; it has been put into Jesus Christ, not because he needs it himself, but that he may distribute it; and he does distribute it, and whosoever asketh it of him receiveth it from him; \u201cfor every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.\u201d And when you receive this grace, it will remain in you. It will not be like ordinary water, which you drink, and which then is done with, but it will abide in you. It shall turn into a well of living water; inside your soul there shall be an ever-springing well of life, which never shall cease to flow, either in summer or in winter, and which, in glory, shall enable you to understand what that eternal life was which Jesus gave to you, and of which he said to his Father, \u201cThis is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.\u201d<\/p>\n
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II. <\/b>Now, secondly, I am going To Answer The Question That This Woman Put To Christ.<\/p>\n
Her question was, \u201c\u2019From whence then hast thou that living water?\u2019 How didst thou come to have it? If thou hast living water, how is it that thou hast it? It is not in that well; and even if it were there, thou haste nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: \u2019from whence then hast thou that living water?\u2019\u201d What an important question this is to put in a spiritual sense! Lord Jesus, we hear that thou hast an abundance of grace, treasured up in thee, which thou dost freely distribute amongst those who ask thee for it, but how camest thou by it? How is it that thou hast this grace? In what way die it come to be stored up in thee? \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d While I am asking this question, I pray every unconverted one, who desires to find peace with God, to say to himself or herself, \u201cI am now to hear how it is that Christ can save; I am now to learn why it is that he is the Giver of grace to the guilty.\u201d Perhaps, dear friend, while you are listening you may see something in Christ which you never saw before, and faith may spring up in your soul almost insensibly to yourself; and ere you go out of this place, you may be able to say, \u201cI cannot fully explain this great mystery, but I know sufficient of the Lord Jesus Christ to believe in him; I cannot but believe in him now that I see how it is that he is so mighty to save.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first answer to the question, \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d is this: \u2014 He has it in his very nature<\/i>. Jesus Christ is able to save because he is divine. \u201cWith God, all things are possible\u201d and Jesus Christ is God, so all things are possible with him. \u201cGod is love;\u201d and Jesus Christ is God, so he, too, is love. God possesseth all things; and Christ is God, so he hath all things freely to distribute among the sons of men. Jesus of Nazareth, as he sat on the well at Sychar, seemed to that woman, at first, to be only an ordinary Jew, and she wondered that he, being a Jew, should speak to her, a woman of Samaria veiled under the form of that Son of Mary, there was God himself made flesh, and dwelling among men. Oh, it is glorious to think that he, who has come to redeem you, is no mere man, but over all God blessed for ever! If a man were to tell me that he was going to take the world upon his shoulders, I should distrust his power to boar such a burden, even though he were as strong as Samson. But Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can not only bear up this world, but the entire universe, upon his hand, for all fullness of power dwells in him. If any man were to say that he would take upon himself the sins of the whole world, I should be even more diffident than if he proposed to play the part of Atlas, and to bear the world upon his shoulders. But when Jesus, who counted it not robbery to be equal with God, takes upon himself the form of a servant, and yet has the iniquity of us all laid upon him, I can understand how he can bear the tremendous load, for he bears the earth\u2019s huge pillars up, and spreads the heavens abroad. When we think of Jesus as divine, nothing seems to be impossible to him. The strength of sin, which is the law, is not too great for him who made the law, and kept it, too. The sting of death, which is sin, shall certainly not be able to destroy, or even to resist, the almighty power of him who hath the keys of death and of hell.<\/p>\n
If you commit your soul, my dear friend, to the keeping of a man, or of an angel, you will have made a fatal mistake. If all the angels in heaven were to band themselves together to save a soul, and were to ask me to be the soul that they would seen to save, I would have nothing to do with them. Nobody who is less than Deity can save sinners, and Jesus is \u201cmighty to save\u201d because he is God as well as man. This is a basis upon which the soul\u2019s hope may well be founded and established for ever. If the interposing Mediator be indeed \u201cvery God of very God,\u201d \u2014 and he is, \u2014 we see whence he hath this living water, and we can come to him with the utmost confidence, knowing that he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him.<\/p>\n
Another answer to the Samaritan woman\u2019s question is that Christ has this living water by the divine purpose and appointment<\/i>. It was the divine plan that Jesus Christ, the second Person of the blessed Trinity in Unity, should be appointed to be the treasury of grace for all his elect ones. In the council chamber of eternity, it was ordained that the Son of God should, in due time, come into this world, and take upon himself our nature, and also our sin, and he was set apart, in the eternal purpose, so to do; and, in the proclamation of the gospel, that decree of the Lord is published to the sons of men. The Lord God hath set forth his Son Jesus as the one propitiation for the sins of men; he is authorized by God to be a Savior, and he comes here, by divine appointment, to bestow upon us the blessings of his grace. When an ambassador comes to this land from another country, he brings credentials to prove that he is duly accredited by the authority that he represents, and our Lord Jesus Christ comes to men with credentials which prove that he was appointed by God to this service before all worlds were made, and that he will be divinely sustained in that appointment till time shall be no more; and then, having completed his mediatorial work, he will surrender the Kingdom to his Father,- and God shall be All-in-all. So now, as Mediator, he stands, appointed by the Most High, to distribute the blessings of his grace, which is the living water of which our text speak.<\/p>\n
To me, this truth is inconceivably sweet; for, when I trust in Jesus Christ to save me, I rejoice to know that he is no amateur saviour, who has come on his own authority, and at his own bidding. But, behold, the Father himself hath sent him. He is the Messiah, the Sent One, the Anointed, the Christ of God. God must accept his Son, for he sent him into the world for this very purpose. If I bring to God the blood of Jesus as the atonement for my sin, he must accept it, for he himself ordained it as the medium of reconciliation. My blessed Savior, if I hide in thee, I cannot to either dragged or driven from thee, for God has set thee apart to be the city of Refuge to which my poor soul may flee for protection and shelter. God hath appointed Jesus \u201cto be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.\u201d It seems to me that these are two grand answers to the question of the Samaritan woman, \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d \u2014 first, from his own natural and essential Deity; and, secondly, as the Mediator appointed and sustained by the eternal Father.<\/p>\n
But, thirdly, the Lord Jesus could give a further answer to the woman\u2019s question by referring to the anointing which he had received from the Holy Spirit<\/i>. On the day of his baptism in the Jordan, the Spirit descended upon him, like a dove and abode upon him. He could truly say, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.\u201d He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for the work of distributing the living water to the sons and daughters of men. He was God\u2019s Christos, \u2014 God\u2019s \u201cAnointed.\u201d Those are two very precious titles which are often put together, Jesus Christ, \u2014 the anointed Savior; they describe both his office and his qualification for that office. Well, then, behold Jesus Christ, with the fullness of the Spirit abiding upon him, coming into the world endowed with all those divine gifts which, as Mediator, he needed, that he might be able to carry out the work which the Lord had of old appointed him to do. The Spirit of God is still with him, and he gives the Spirit to those who seek him. This, then, is the third answer to the woman\u2019s question, \u201cFrom whence then hast than that living water? \u201cHe has it because the Spirit of God is upon him.<\/p>\n
There is another answer, which may convince some, who have not been comforted or enlightened by the previous ones; it could not have been given to the woman, at the time she put the question, except by way of anticipation; but say that Christ has this living water because his redeeming work is finished<\/i>. He had it, virtually, during his life on earth, in foresight of the work which he had undertaken to finish. Hence it was that multitudes of souls went to heaven long before Christ had paid the ransom for them, his pledge and promise being a guarantee that the great deed would surely be accomplished. Think of this, that the Son of God, whom the holy angels worshipped without ceasing, should have come hither in the form of a babe, who nestled in a woman\u2019s arms, \u2014 that he might save us! Oh, let the joy-bells ring as we think of God in human flesh! Does not the thought of Christ\u2019s incarnation bring hope to the lost? May not sinners see, in it, how the living water finds a channel in which it can flow down to them in the person of the incarnate God, \u2014 \u201dEmmanuel, God with us\u201d? \u201cUnto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall to upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. He lived for thirty years, in this world, a quiet, humble life, working out a righteousness for all his people, fulfilling all the relationships of life into which he was brought; and so, when he came to be baptized, he openly revealed the work that he was doing all his life, namely, fulfilling all righteousness. Throughout the whole of his earthly career, he was living for us, and working for us, and the merit of his unique life stands to the credit of all who believe in him. At last, the time came for him to die, for \u201cwithout shedding of blood there is no remission.\u201d The living water could not come to us unless Christ\u2019s heart was opened to let it out. He must give his life a ransom for many, or else there could never be any ransomed souls. You know the sad, sad story. Jesus goes forth from the place where he had instituted the memorial supper, he enters Gethsemane\u2019s garden, utters a series of agonizing prayers, in the course of which a shower of his precious blood falls upon the earth where he kneels. He rises from the ground, meets his betrayer, and receives his cruel traitor kiss. He thrusts aside the sword with which his too eager disciple would have defended him; and he is led like a lamb to the slaughter; and like a sheep dumb before her shearers, he opens not his mouth to answer his accusers. He gives his back to the smilers, and his cheeks to them that pluck out the hair; he hides not his face from shame and spitting. Yea, though he is Lord of all, he voluntarily yields himself up to a felon\u2019s death, and gives up his immaculate body, which had never been stained by sin, to be pierced with the nails, and every tone to be dislocated by the jar as the cross is first lifted up, and then hurled down into its place. He hangs in the burning sun, parched with fever. He has no friend or comforter, for even God has forsaken him while he is bearing his people\u2019s sin, and his enemies mock and laugh at his agonies. He yields up his soul unto death without a murmuring word. He knew that the price of pardon was his blood, but his pity ne\u2019er withdrew; and, until he could say, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d he held on to life. When it was finished, he submitted himself to death, and the Lord of glory was laid in the new tomb in the garden. Now, if you ask me, from whence, then, has Jesus of Nazareth, God incarnate, that living water, I answer in three words, \u2014 \u201dGethsemane, Gabbatha, Golgotha.\u201d Put these three together; \u2014 the place where he sweat great drops of blood, the place where he was scourged, and the place where he died, and you can comprehend whence he hath this living water.<\/p>\n
Another answer to the woman\u2019s question, \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water\u201d is that he hath it in the reward which his Father promised to him for his mediatorial work:<\/i> \u201cHe shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities\u201d God\u2019s only-begotten and well-beloved Son is to receive a full reward for all that he endured, and all that he has so far received of his Father is not for himself, for he needs nothing; but he has received it that he may distribute it amongst the rebellious children of men. The psalmist truly sang, \u201cThou hast ascended on high, thou haste led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.\u201d And this is whence he has that living water. Poor soul, groping in the dark, and trying to believe in Jesus, ought not this to enable thee to believe in him? Christ has lived, and loved, and bled, and died, and now there is a reward due to him which can only be met by the salvation of all for whom he died. See, then, how he has the living water, and come and trust him to give it to you freely.<\/p>\n
There is one other answer to the woman\u2019s question, \u201cFrom whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d It is this. Because of his intercession at his Father\u2019s right hand in glory<\/i>. Jesus, the God-man, the Mediator between God and men, ever liveth to make intercession for us: \u201cWherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.\u201d Look at him, my brethren, the risen Christ at God\u2019s right hand, if you can; see him standing there, in his robes of glory and beauty, for he is no longer a sacrificing Priest, for his one sacrifice, in which he offered up himself, is finished for ever. Now he has put on the royal robes of the High Priest, for he is both a Prince and a Priest; and there he stands, with our names engraver upon his breastplate, each glittering jewel dear to the eyes of God. Wherever he moves, the bells and the pomegranates upon his glorious garments pour forth sweet music in the ear of the Most High, for Christ is altogether lovely in the eyes of his Father, and he is ever dear to the heart of his Father. There he stands as the great representative Man, fully acceptable to God; \u2014 nay more, dearly beloved of God; and, for his sake, God looks upon all who are in him with infinite love and divine complacency. Some of you may know what it is to have a beloved son away in America or Australia for many years. By-and-by, he comes home, and he brings his wife. You have never seen her, but you love her for his sake. Possibly, he also brings home a dozen children. Well, that is a large addition to your family, but you welcome them all for your boy\u2019s sake, do you not, I am sure you do; and you seem to see his image in them all. All who belong to him are dear to you for his sake. So, the ever-blessed God looks with unspeakable love upon the whole family of Christ, because of the love which he bears to their covenant Head, and Lord, and Surety. This eternal life that is in him, \u2014 this boundless love that God gives to him, \u2014 this intercessory power that he hath with the Father, and that he uses on our behalf, \u2014 this is whence he hath that living water.<\/p>\n
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III. <\/b>Now may God the Holy Spirit specially aid us while we briefly notice, in the third place, The Inferences To Be Drawn From This Truth.<\/p>\n
If this is whence Christ hath this living water, then he is able still to bless the children of men\u201d<\/i>. If he had received grace from some temporary source of supply, it would have been exhausted long ago; but, since he received it from his own divine nature, from the purpose and plan of God, from the anointing of the Holy Spirit, from his own finished work, and from his ever-living power and infinite merit, since all these fountains of grace are as full to-day as ever they were, and since they always will be just as full, from the same source the stream of grace will continue to flow. If the deeps, from which a well draws its water, are always the same, then depend upon it, the supply in the well will be always the same. If, therefore, the great deeps from which Christ draws the living water cannot be supposed to be lessened, the living water is in him, at this moment, as much as it was eighteen hundred years ago.<\/p>\n
The remembrance of this truth should bring consolation to the soul of anyone who may have said, \u201cI wish that I had lived long ago, when Christ was upon this earth in visible form.\u201d You should not speak so, for you may as readily receive grace! From Christ as did the woman of Samaria. The very words, which Jesus used to that poor fallen creature, he also addresses to thee, \u201cIf thou knewest the gift of God,… thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.\u201d Ask, and thou shalt have, even as she asked and received. It is abundantly clear that there is an ample supply of grace stored up in Christ Jesus for all who trust him.<\/p>\n
It is equally clear that he needs nothing from us<\/i>. If he had drawn the living water out of the well at Sychar, he would have wanted to borrow the woman\u2019s water-pot; he would have said, \u201cNow, mistress, you must lend me your rope, and your water-pot, for, otherwise, I cannot get at the water in the well.\u201d But, as the living water comes only from himself, he needs nobody\u2019s water-pot or rope. This is a very important matter, because you, sinners, will persist in bringing your water-pots and your ropes to help Christ. You want to aid the Lord Jesus Christ, in some way or other, in his work of saving you. \u201cAh!\u201d you say, \u201cI know that he is a Savior, but then I must\u201d \u2014 Well, what \u201cmust\u201d you dot \u201cOh!\u201d says one, \u201cI must do this,\u201d and another says, \u201cI must do that.\u201d I will tell you all the \u201cmust\u201d there is about your case; you must be willing to be nothing, and let Christ be everything. You must be the emptiness, and he must be the fullness. You must be the poverty, and he must be the riches. You must be the poor miserable beggar, and he must be your great Enricher, your All-in-all. That is all that is needed.<\/p>\n
Then, once more, since this living water comes to Christ from his essential Deity and all the other grand things of which I have spoken, it is not exhausted at this present time<\/i>. There is an abiding fullness in Christ since the living water comes thus to him. Millions of happy spirits are now in heaven, who have drunk of this living water; but Christ is just as able to save millions upon millions more; and your sins cannot exhaust Christ\u2019s fullness. I remember, when the thirst of my soul was so strong, by reason of my acute sense of sin, that I compared myself to behemoth, of whom the Lord said to Job, \u201cHe trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.\u201d Well, now, if your soul\u2019s thirst is so great that it will take more than Jordan to satisfy you, and the rivers of Abana and Pharpar after that, and: Kishon after that, and the Mediterranean sea after that, and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans after all those, \u2014 if you could drink up all that is good in the whole universe, and still thirst for more, if you will receive grace from Christ, he will fill you to the full, yet he will still be just as full of grace as he ever was.<\/p>\n
There was a sailor, who, if I remember the story rightly, once called at Lubbock\u2019s bank, to cash his pay notes. I think he was to draw \u00a350, so he said to the clerk, \u201cI don\u2019t like to be hard on anybody. As you have to pay out all this money, I will take ten pounds now, and I will call again, another day, for some more, as I don\u2019t want to break you up.\u201d Of course, you may imagine how they smiled at the simplicity of the man who thought that he might break the bank by drawing out such an enormous sum of money as fifty pounds all at once! You smile at the illustration, yet that is just exactly how many sinners treat the Lord Jesus Christ. They seem to think it is too much to expect to receive from him the full and free forgiveness of all their sins; they imagine that it is too much for Christ to give all at once; but they do not know that the Lord Jesus Christ has already pardoned enough sinners to make heaven as bright with redeemed spirits as the sky is with stars, and yet that he has as much pardoning mercy left as ever he had. After you draw from a perennial fountain as much water as you need, it still springs up as copiously as ever; so, is it with the living water which is stored up in Christ, and you may have it, poor thirsty soul, as much as you need. I will not underestimate the greatness of your sin; it is indeed enormous; but since Christ has borne it, in his own body, on the tree, he knows its weight, and all about it; and, as soon as you trust in him, you will realize that he has for ever put it all away.<\/p>\n
So I think that the final inference to be drawn is that we should all take of this living water, which Christ so freely gives<\/i>. \u201cAh!\u201d says one, \u201cI bless God that I drank of it years ago.\u201d Never mind, brother; never mind, sister; come and drink of it again. Keep on receiving Jesus Christ again and again, continually looking unto him as the Author and Finisher of your faith. Let us all go to him, saints and sinners, saved and unsaved, this very moment. May the Holy Spirit draw us, and may we all, as one man, say, \u201cI give myself up to thee, O Savior, to save me; and I trust thee to cleanse me from all my sin, and to present me at last, faultless, before the presence of thy glory with exceeding joy. I am nothing, and I have nothing that I can bring to thee to merit thine esteem. I am nothing but a mass of sin and misery, \u2014 not even feeling my sin as I ought to feel it. Look upon me, O Savior, in love and mercy, and give me the grace to drink of the living water this very hour, if I never drank of it before; and if I did drink of it long ago, let it spring up within me just now, and may I be conscious of its power, to my own comfort and to thy praise and glory! \u201cIf this be your prayer, my brothers and sisters, God will bless you! and we shall meet in heaven, by his grace, still to drink of the living water for ever and ever, and to his blessed name we will ascribe all the praise and glory for our salvation, for Jesus\u2019 sake! Amen.<\/p>\n
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON.<\/p>\n
JOHN 4:1-34.<\/b><\/p>\n
Verses 1-4. 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 Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.<\/i><\/p>\n
And, surely, not only because it was the more convenient way, but because he had designs of love for some souls there that his Father had given him. There is many a needs be in divine providence because of the needs-be of divine grace.<\/p>\n
5, 6. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob\u2019s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.<\/i><\/p>\n
Wearied, and needing rest, yet there was no rest for him, except that he found his sweetest rest in winning immortal souls unto himself.<\/p>\n
7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.<\/i><\/p>\n
That is practically what Jesus still says to the sons and daughters of men: \u201cGive me to drink.\u201d He asks for your love, for your trust, for your confidence. It is his meat and drink to bless your soul, and to give you the blessing that you need, and it is a refreshment to his spirit when you give him the opportunity of thus blessing you.<\/p>\n
8. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)<\/i><\/p>\n
It was a great mercy that the disciples were out of the way just then; had they been there, they might have tried to keep this poor woman from speaking to the Savior; and, sometimes, brethren, it may be well for us to be laid aside. God may do more good without our presence than with it; who can tell?<\/p>\n
9, 10. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 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 wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.<\/i><\/p>\n
See, then, the evil of spiritual ignorance, and see also how the chain of grace works, \u201cIf thou knewest . . , thou wouldest have seeked . . and he would have given.\u201d When God gives the knowledge of Christ to the soul, then there comes the spirit of prayer, and then consequent blessing.<\/p>\n
11, 12. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with and the well is deep: from whence 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?<\/i><\/p>\n
She took the Savior\u2019s figure literally; and there are still many who cannot see the spiritual meaning of God\u2019s Word, and run their heads against the hard stern letter which killeth, instead of seeking and finding the inner living spirit which giveth life. These are the people who build their hopes of salvation upon outward ordinances, and who impute saving power to \u201csacraments.\u201d Would God that they knew better!<\/p>\n
13-15. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but 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. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.<\/i><\/p>\n
She was still unable to see the inner meaning of the Savior\u2019s words; the outward sense still held her fast She needed to have her conscience aroused, for that would prove to be the way into her heart. Christ has different doors for entering into different people\u2019s souls. Into some, he enters by the understanding; into many, by the affections. To some, he comes by the way of fear; to another, by that of hope; and to this woman he came by way of her conscience.<\/p>\n
16-19. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he who, thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.<\/i><\/p>\n
Something had come home to her conscience through what the Savior said to her, so she began to speak about what he was, not about what she herself was. This often happens when the preacher is enabled, by divine grace, to come home to the conscience. The result is, that the hearer says, \u201cWhat a wonderful preacher he is!\u201d But that will do no good, that is not the point at which we are aiming. \u201cThe woman saith unto him, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet,\u201d and off she goes, at a tangent, to enquire about various forms of religious observance. Evil liver as she was she was still a person who wished to be regarded as a religious woman; and it is strange how often a certain religiousness will flourish even in the most depraved heart, \u2014 not true godliness, however. So she propounded this difficulty to the Savior: \u2014 <\/p>\n
20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many sects, can you tell me which is the right one?\u201d That is the question which men often put to us when we begin to touch their consciences.<\/p>\n
21. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.<\/i><\/p>\n
This question is of very temporary interest. The hour cometh, when neither of these places, nor yet any other, shall be oonsidered saved.<\/p>\n
22-24. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall, worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.<\/i><\/p>\n
No longer is any consecrated building necessary to true worship; indeed, no building can be consecrated. No longer are we to be confined to canonical hours. No longer is God to be sought with the sensuousness of sweet music or of fragrant incense; but he is to be sought with the heart, and soul, and spirit.<\/p>\n
25, 26. The woman saith unto him. I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.<\/i><\/p>\n
This great truth burst upon her with all the forge of a divine revelation, and faith came with the information. The words that had gone before had prepared her to expect this manifestation of Christ to her soul.<\/p>\n
27-34. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, what seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water-pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will, of him that sent me, and to finish his work.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NO. 2987 A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST18TH, 1904, DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 6TH, 1876. \u201cThe woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?\u201d \u2014 John 4:11. THIS was … Continue reading “THE SOURCE”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}