Oh, your throne is a throne of
holiness and majesty and power, and we come bowing before thee
for your mercy and grace towards us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We're undeserving sinners. We merit nothing but your wrath,
but yet your wrath has been appeased by our mighty Savior. the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we are in absolute awe and wonder of your mercy
towards us. We pray you be glorified and
magnified today in the preaching of your word and in all that
we do. In Jesus' name, Amen. Isaiah
chapter 12. Isaiah chapter 12. Small chapter, short chapter.
Six verses. But there's so much here. We'll
be keen on verse three. And in that day thou shalt say,
O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me,
thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God
is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye praise
the Lord, So you say, praise the Lord, call upon his name,
declare his doings among the people, make mention that his
name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath
done excellent things. This is known in all the earth.
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the holy
one of Israel in the midst of thee. And here before us in scripture
is a chapter which will give the believer strength and joy. as we pilgrimage through this
earth. And we see all through this chapter here that the Lord
is our strength. The Lord is our strength. And
he's our song. He has given us a new song. And
now in scriptures. We behold our wonderful, merciful
savior on every page. We turn through the Scriptures
and we see Him in types and in pictures, and we are in awe,
awe. And we know that everything of
grace is fetched by faith from Christ. And it is in Christ alone
that the wells of salvation spoken of in our text here are found.
They're only found in Christ. They're not found anywhere else.
They're not found in any of our works. They're not found in any
one of us. But these wells of salvation
are found in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now think of this, ordinances,
baptism, the Lord's Supper, they're nothing without Christ. They're
nothing without Christ, beloved. Because what do those ordinances
do? They point us to Christ. They point us to Christ, right?
The Lord's Supper is a remembrance what our Savior's done for us
in baptism, right? We are we are declaring that
we are Christ. We are his. He saved us. He redeemed us. He did it all. So without Christ, the ordinances
are nothing. They're nothing. Oh, he alone. Think of this,
too. He alone. Is the fountain and
well of the believer's soul. He alone. Therefore it says,
therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of
salvation. Now we know that all things live
and require water. Everything that lives requires
water. Hence Christ is the water of life for the believer, for
the believer. And he's also called the bread
of life in scripture. So basically, not basically,
it's a fact, Everything that the believer needs, substance-wise,
is in Christ. Spiritually, they're all in him. They're all in him. Water is
necessary to sustain life. And this is true whether we're
referring to natural water or to that living water, the spiritual
water that Christ gives us. And he, think of this, he's not
only the source of spiritual water, he's the source of natural
water too. It all flows from His creative
hands. And the believers are saved and
redeemed by the precious blood of He who is the water of life. He who is the water of life,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, if you would, to John chapter
4. One clear picture we have in Scripture is in John chapter
4. where a woman from Samaria went to fetch water, but little
did she know. Now she went to fetch water that
day, right? But little did that woman from
Samaria know that she had a divine appointment, beloved. That there
was an appointment for her to meet the water of life, the Lord
Jesus Christ. God had appointed this time.
She wanted God's sheep. She's one of God's sheep, one
of the ones given to Christ from eternity. And because of that,
look what Christ says. In verse four, verse three says
this, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee, and he must
needs go through Samaria. Why must he needs go through
Samaria? Because there's not just one
of his sheep there. There's a whole bunch of them there. And he must
needs go there. He must. And just like there
was a divine appointment for the Sumerian lady, for every
believer, there's a divine appointment in our lives when we, when we,
when Christ reveals himself to us. Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Note
our Savior here has a divine appointment with one of his lost
sheep. Look at verses five and six. Then cometh he to the city
of Sumeria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground.
that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus,
therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well, and it was about the sixth hour. Now note here, he was wearied
with his journey. This shows us our beloved Savior's
humanity. There's his humanity. We know
that he's deity, and he's going to tell this sheep of his that
he is the Messiah. But here we see his humanity
as well. He's wearied. He's weary. He gets weary just
like we get weary. Then come, there cometh a woman
of Samaria to draw water. She's just coming to get water.
She has no idea what's gonna happen. Oh my. Jesus saith unto
her, give me the drink. because he's weary, he's thirsty.
For his disciples were gone away into 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? Now we
know from study before that the Jews and the Samaritans, they
didn't have nothing to do with each other. For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. And 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 of him,
and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith
unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is
deep. From whence then hast thou this living water? She's thinking
the natural water, but he's talking spiritual water. Art thou greater
than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself and his children? In this cattle, 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, never thirst. But the water that I
shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up
into everlasting life. And look a little further down
and we see our Lord revealed to this poor sinner, this poor
needy sinner. And notice who sought out who. a seeking Savior, seeking the
needy sinner. She didn't seek Christ, she just
came to get water. Oh, but look at this. The woman
saith unto him, verse 25 and 26, the woman saith unto him,
I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he has
come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee and he. Oh, I never get tired of reading
that verse. Oh, it's just it's amazing. He just told her who
he was. He just revealed to that poor
needy sinner who he was. He is the Messiah. Oh, so Christ
is a is a fountain of gardens of a well of living waters and
streams from Lebanon to his people. And our Lord Jesus Christ tells
the Samaritan woman that the water he gives will be to His
people a well of water springing up into everlasting life. My! Salvation is only in Christ and
Him alone. Nowhere else. Nowhere else. Beloved of God,
He has revealed Himself in Scripture to be the author and the finisher
of our faith. He's also shown Himself to be
the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all
things, and all things are under His sovereign will. under his
sovereign rule, his sovereign majesty, and his ways are perfect. His ways are perfect. Our ways
are imperfect. His ways are perfect, perfect,
and absolutely nothing can be added to his works. Nothing,
nothing that we do. His work is perfect. It's his
finished, finished, nothing to be added, nothing, nothing. He has decreed what he has decreed
shall come to pass, and that includes all the workings out
of his providence and the salvation of his people, the salvation
of his people in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. God will
have mercy on whom here have mercy and here of compassion
on whom here have compassion. And it will be all in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, our great sovereign redeemer. I must needs
go through Samaria. He must. Must. His purpose can in no way fall
short of being accomplished. As David said this, But our God
is in the heavens, and He hath done whatsoever He pleased. Whatever He pleases. He can have
compassion on whomever here have compassion and he can save whomever
he saves. And the believer says, praise
God, he had mercy on me. An undeserving sinner. What a
God we have. Our God is an absolute sovereign.
And let us think this. If any man has a wrong view of
God, then there have a wrong view of salvation in Christ alone.
Most of what calls itself Christianity in our day clearly has no consideration
of God as an absolute sovereign. They don't believe God's absolutely
sovereign. They don't believe that. And they certainly disregard
God's salvation in the saving of a sinner. And think of that. The saving of sinners by God
is an outworking of His purpose. An outworking of His sovereign
purpose. He saves whom He pleases. One grace preacher said this,
the whole fabric of preaching today is woven out of the threads
of free will and man's benefit. What can we get out of it? Don't bother, but those TV preachers,
my goodness, they're just after people's money. That's all they
are. You give us $50 and it'll be
a seed thing and you're gonna get even more. It's all about
man. Well, I'll tell you what. I'll
tell you about a Savior who did everything. And I'll tell you
about salvation that's free. It's not based on anything we've
done. Nothing. It's all about what Christ has
done. And He dispenses it as He's pleased. And it flows
out of the free and sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus
alone. And it don't cost you nothing.
It's free. It cost Him. It cost our Lord,
didn't it? Shedding of His own precious
blood. Freely we receive. Right? We receive it freely. Salvations
by the free grace of God in Christ plus nothing. Oh my, religion weaves a cloth
that has a beautiful appearance to the natural man, but it shall
be in time shown to be completely rotten and unable to support
the weight of those that cling to it for salvation. So if you have a warped view
of God's salvation, it arises from a misconception of who the
sovereign God of the Bible really is. Scripture declares this. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord, it's of the Lord and it's planning. It's of the
Lord and it's execution. And it's of the Lord and it's
dispensing. He saves whomever he will. It's all of God. And we do come willingly, don't
we? We do. We do. We do believe in Christ. We we do have faith in Christ.
We're made willing, and that faith is a gift of God. And then
we rejoice. Praise be to God. Hallelujah
for saving my soul, Lord. My. So our text says this. Therefore with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. Now the Hebrew word
is translated wells is also translated springs in Psalm 87.7. It says
all my springs are in thee. In Psalm 104.10 it says he sendeth
the springs into the valleys which run among the hills." These
wells of salvation from which the sons of God draw with, and
we draw with joy from these wells of salvation, they're not dug
by the hands of man. Now men go into the desert in
this time and they would dig a well out with their hands.
But these wells spoken of in our text, they're not dug by
the hands of man. Oh, but they spring from our
Almighty God. Our Almighty God. And the scripture
says, therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells
of salvation. Wells of salvation. Number one. These wells are provided by the
one who is the living water. Christ in him alone provides
these wells he that believeth on me as the scripture has said
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water John chapter
7 verse 38 the one spoken of in that text is is the one who
has been the one who has been born again he that believeth
on me is the one who's been born again by the Holy Spirit of God
Repentance and faith are gifts from God. They're not our works,
lest any man should boast. Repentance and faith, beloved,
are evidence of the new birth. They're evidence of God having
done a work in us. And they're both gifts from God.
They're both gifts from God. Think of faith and repentance
as a piece of paper, right? And the paper on one side is
faith and on one side is repentance. They go hand in hand. They go
hand in hand. Those who have been granted faith
in Christ will repent of their sins. But whosoever drinketh
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. John 4, 4, 14. Number two, the
wells of salvation flow, flow from a spring that shall never
run dry. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah 58, 11. They they flow
from a spring that shall never run dry. Never. Isaiah 58, 11. We know that scripture declares
that our savior shall not fail, and he didn't, did he? He redeemed
us from our sins. Look at this in Isaiah 58, 11.
And the Lord shall guide they continually. How long does the
Lord guide the believer? Continually. continually and
Satisfy thy soul and drought and make fat thy bones and thou
shalt be like a watered garden What happens what happens when
you water a garden really well, and you take care of it? We're like a garden the Lord
takes care of us Waters us and watches over us. It's wonderful
beloved. It's wonderful and like a spring of water look at this
a whose water shall not fail. The wells of salvation spoken
of in our text flow from a spring that shall never run dry. Never. And how many have drunk
out of those wells of salvation? A number that no man can number.
And they never run dry. Number three, the wells of salvation
are the very source of joy for the sons of God. Turn, if you
would, to Romans 5, verse 11. Romans 5, verse 11. The very
foundation of all the joy of God's elect is in the substitutionary,
vicarious atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. What He's done
for us. Think of this. Without the imputation
of our sins to Him and His righteousness to us, We'd be the most miserable
people in the world. We'd have absolutely no foundation
on which to approach the Lord our God. But look at Romans chapter
5, verse 11, it says this. Oh, what a source of joy the
Lord Jesus Christ is to his people. And not only so, but we also
joy in God. Who? Through who? Through our
Lord Jesus Christ. And look at this though. By whom
we have now received the atonement. Received the atonement. The atonement. With God. Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In him alone. Not through our works. But through Christ in him alone. What a Savior. Now the believer
in Christ. Whose sin debt is forever canceled. And who has complete acceptance
before God in Christ. Is secured for eternity. What
can we do? Nothing but rejoice. Nothing
but rejoice. Regardless of any trial that
comes before us. which may be flawless in this
world. We know that we are absolutely secure in Christ Jesus, our Lord,
because it's in and through him that we have received the atonement.
And this brings great joy. This is a well of joy springing
up in the believers hearts. Oh, and do we draw from that
all the time? All the time, because when we
look to ourselves, we think, oh, Lord, I thank you that my
salvation is not based upon me. not based upon what I do. And
I'm so thankful, beloved, that my salvation is not dependent
upon my works, because I'd be in a heap of trouble. But oh, our salvation's in Christ,
by whom we have received the atonement. And we've received
it as a free gift. He gave it to us. Oh, it's marvelous. What a Savior, beloved. What
a Savior! Is sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Is poor, yet making many rich.
Is heaven nothing, and yet possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6,
10. We have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord. And
that brings the believer great joy. These wells of salvation
are also the very source of the strength of God's children. Turn,
if you would, to Nehemiah chapter 8. Nehemiah chapter 8. The enemy of the sons of God
would seek to rob them of the joy which the Lord has purchased
for us. He would do all within his power
to keep them in dark concerning the grand truth that there's
no condemnation to the sons of God. The enemies of God labor
to weigh down God's people with burdens that no man can bear,
adding and mixing works and grace to something you must do. But look at what Nehemiah 8.10,
it says, Then He said unto them, Go your way and eat. the fat
and drink the sweet and send portions unto them for whom nothing
is prepared for this day is holy unto our Lord. Neither be sorry
for the joy of the Lord is your strength. No matter what people,
what barbs people throw at us, the joy of the Lord is our strength.
And then turn off, if you would, the first John 4, 4. First John
4, 4. People seek to rob us of the
joy that we have, the freedom that we have in Christ. weighing
us down with things we have to do. But we, by being Bereans,
can look to the Scriptures and say, No! No. No, Christ alone
is my hope, and I am absolutely complete in Him. And we overcome the world by
Christ. By Christ. Do not be discouraged,
O children of the Most High God. Scripture declares this. In 1
John 4, 4, ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them,
because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the
world. He's our strength. He's our hope. He's everything. The more I study scripture, the
more I realize how dependent I am on Christ. More and more. More and more. My! Therefore with joy, with joy
shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. Our text
proclaims, and these wells are centered in Christ. He is the
conduit through which God's blessings flow to His people. Through Christ
and Him alone. He is the conduit, beloved. All God's blessings flow to the
elect of God. Through Christ and God's people
with joy, we draw from the wells of salvation. We draw from the
wells of salvation, which is Christ in him alone. We draw from the well of rejoicing
to. Turn, if you would, to Habakkuk chapter three, Habakkuk chapter
three, we draw from the well of rejoicing. And who is the
one we rejoice in? Who is the one we rejoice in,
beloved? Christ. Christ in Him alone. Christ in
Him alone. Before we were saved, we used
to rejoice in things of the world. And now we see how fleeting those
things are. And we rejoice in Christ, in
Him alone. Christ in Him alone. Habakkuk
chapter 3, verses 18 and 19 says this. Yet I will rejoice, again,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in who? The God of
my salvation. It's God who saved me, beloved,
and so would you. He's the God of our salvation. My salvation is dependent upon
God. He is the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength. And we have been shown that we
are weak, weak, weak creatures. But the Lord God is my strength. And he will make my feet like
hinds feet. And he will make me to walk upon
high places. Beloved, we rejoice because of
the great things that the Lord God has done for us. For us. And he alone is our strength. and He alone is our Savior. It's incredible. Rejoice in the
Lord always, and again I say rejoice, for the joy of the Lord
is your strength. Another well that we draw from
in the well of salvation is we draw from the well of God's mercy,
which is being given to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn, if you would, to Lamentations chapter 3. The mercy of God reminds us of His
faithfulness. His faithfulness. In which we
find great comfort. Because we who believe, we've
obtained mercy in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. And do
you know, do you know that it is of the Lord's mercies that we're
not concerned? Lamentations 3 verses 22 and
23. Look at this, beloved. And let
this just sink into our souls, no matter what we go through
in this world, no matter what the next day brings forth. Look
at this. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because his compassions fail
not. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. We won't speak of our faithfulness,
will we know? We're speaking his. He's faithful
and true. He is, he gets all the glory.
He gets it. The next, well, we draw from
is our hope in Christ. Turn, if you would, the second
Thessalonians, chapter two, verses 16 and 17. We are saved by hope. Saved by faith in Christ, but
our hope is totally in Christ Jesus our Lord. Sink or swim,
I'll trust in Him. And hope, make it not a shame,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Look at
2 Thessalonians 2, verses 16 and 17. Now our Lord Jesus Christ
Himself and God even the Father which hath loved us. How long
has he loved us? With an everlasting love. And
hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.
Good hope through grace, beloved. Comfort your hearts and establish
you in every good word and work. The next well we draw from is
the well of God's purpose. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. all the well of God's purpose.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the anchor of our soul, beloved.
He's the anchor of our soul. He's the only hope that we have.
If we hope in ourselves, we'll perish. If we hope in ourselves,
we perish. But all who hope and trust and
rest in the Lord Jesus Christ shall never perish, never perish. Look at Hebrews chapter 6 verses
17 to 19, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath that by two immutable things in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have
fled for refuge. Have you fled for refuge to Christ? Oh, to lay hold upon the hope
set before us, which hope and hear those who have fled for
refuge to Christ, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast. He's a sure and steadfast savior,
beloved, which entereth into that within the veil. So we draw
from the well of God's purpose and what hope the believer has
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a sure hope. an eternal
hope. He's the believer's hope. And
the believer's hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. Nothing else. We come empty-handed
to our Savior, don't we? Absolutely empty-handed. And
the last well we're looking at, there's many, many more, but
the last well of the wells of salvation is the well of eternal
life, which is found in Christ Jesus and Him alone. Turn, if
you would, to John 4.14. And then put your finger in Revelation
chapter 7. The Lord Jesus Christ in him
alone is a well springing up into eternal life. It is in him
alone that we have eternal life. And the believer says, praise
his mighty name. Look at John 4.14. But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
Never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. He's the water of life. He's
the water of life. And then look at Revelation 7
verses 16 and 17. Oh, beloved, our salvation, our
hope, our rest, our repose is in the Lord Jesus Christ and
him alone. Look at Revelation 7, 16 and
17. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither
shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead
them into living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes. But note, he's a fountain of
living waters. And then Revelation closes with
this. Revelation chapter 21 we're closed with the words of our
master Revelation 21 6 And he said unto me it is done
It's done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the
end And I will give unto him that is a thirst to the fountain
of the water of life free free grace, beloved, free grace in
Christ Jesus our Lord. Oh, that God would make you thirsty.
If you haven't tasted of these waters, that God would make you
thirst and hunger for Christ. Heavenly Father, we just come
before thy throne with grateful, thankful hearts for the wells
of salvation that are only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. And
we know that you are the source and he is the conduit And it
flows, all the blessings flow to us. We who believe in Christ
Jesus our Lord. All the spiritual blessings from
thee flow to us in and through Christ Jesus our Lord. And we
will be forever grateful for your goodness and mercy and grace
bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus our Lord. And we love you because
you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.