Please turn back in your Bibles
to that 14th chapter of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 14, and I want
us to look again at one of those verses that was read, that 8th
verse. And it shall be in that day,
that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them
toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea. In summer and in winter shall
it be." In this verse, as well as in other places in this chapter
and book, We come to be confronted with another one of those shalls
of God. He tells us that it shall be. And that simply means that it
shall be because God has decreed it, because he has purposed it,
because he works all things after the counsel of his own will."
And then not only that, but he says here also, "...in that day."
As a matter of fact, he begins this chapter with, "...behold,
the day of the Lord cometh." He tells us that the day shall
come. And this day is simply his way
of speaking of a particular and definite time. A time that begins
on this earth, or rather now began on this earth at the coming
of the Christ. the coming of the Messiah. And the day that he's talking
about is that same day that Isaiah spoke of and that Christ himself
initiated when he read out of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth. He spoke of the acceptable year
of the Lord. And then the apostle Paul makes
reference to the same thing, writing to the Corinthians. He
says, "...we then, as workers together with him, beseech you
also that you receive not the grace of God in vain." And then
he gives us this parenthetical statement, "...for he saith,
I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have
I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation."
So the Lord says here, without any reservation or possibility
of it being otherwise, that it shall in this day be. Be what? And it shall be in that
day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. That's the title of my message,
Living Waters from Jerusalem. In religion, men and women are
always talking about such things as holy water, and they are often
talking about visiting the so-called holy land and getting water from
the Sea of Galilee or water from the Dead Sea. Not long ago, I
heard someone talk about being baptized in some special way
in the Sea of Galilee or sprinkled with some special holy water. But all these things are nothing
more than superstition." When Paul was there in the book of
Acts, and he came to Mars Hill, and he said, I perceive that
in all these things you're too religious or too superstitious. No man will ever be changed by
any actual literal water, not by pouring on them, not by dipping
them in it. No, this is described as living
waters. This is described as living waters
which are simply spiritual waters. This has to do with water for
the soul and water that is used by God as a means to make a lie. You remember James tells us,
"...of his own will begot he us," or brought us forth to life,
"...by the word of truth." And this is water that will prove
to be essential for those who are the living, those who have
been made alive by God Himself. And he tells us here, he tells
us that these living waters shall go out from Jerusalem. Jerusalem is that city name That
is, in two parts, which amounts something like this. Some say,
the city of peace. But maybe more accurately, what
it says is, the foundation of peace. And of course, we know from this
book that Christ is described as our peace, or the peace of
God, and his gospel is likewise said to be the gospel of peace. And there are at least three
ways in the Bible that we find this name used. First of all,
we find it used of that Jerusalem which is above, a heavenly Jerusalem. In Hebrews 11, it says that Abraham,
that sojourner and pilgrim, it says that he looked for a city
which hath foundations. I believe that concurs with that
definition of what Jerusalem is. He looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And then Paul, in much the same
way, he writes in Galatians 4, he says, "...but Jerusalem which
is above is free, which is the mother of us all." He writes
that to believers in Galatia. And then, of course, secondly,
we remember and surely know that Jerusalem is the actual name
of that city in Israel where the Lord was crucified, where
his ministry was all around and flowed out from that city there
in Israel. And then the third way in which
Jerusalem is used is for spiritual Jerusalem, which is the Lord's
church on earth, described also in Hebrews 12, when he said,
we're not come to that Mount Sinai, He says, but you are come
unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
or the spiritual Jerusalem, the church and people of God. And so here we have all these
three different uses here of the name Jerusalem. So which
one is it that he's talking about that these living waters will
flow out of? Well, actually, all three. All
three. And I say that because this living
water is nothing less than the Spirit and the gospel and the
Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the foundation of our
peace. He is our peace, and he made
peace by the blood of his cross. As a matter of fact, if you look
back in chapter 13, look at what it says in that first verse. He says, "...in that day." there
shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." He
says that a fountain is open. And out of that fountain flows
these living waters. Out of this Jerusalem flows these
living waters. The gospel we know of Christ
crucified comes down from heaven. And not only that, his gospel
went out from that actual city of Jerusalem after his death,
and most especially, his gospel, these living waters, they flow
out of that Jerusalem which is his church here on the earth
spiritually. So it proves true in every case,
whether in heaven, whether actually out of that place, or whether
spiritually out of the Lord's church, that is where the gospel
comes from, and that is that living water that flows out and
accomplishes some things. And I say it flows out especially
and is most essential in our present situation, it flows out
from the Lord's true church, not just out of religion. not out of all the man-made doctrines
that we find in this world, not out of the mouths of men and
women who don't know the living God, but it flows out from this
living Jerusalem, which is the church that Paul describes. Because he writes to Timothy
and he says, but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou
oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the
church of the living God." Now notice how he describes the church
of the living God. He says, the pillar, or the foundation
and ground of the truth. As a matter of fact, If we learn
anything about the living God, if God is pleased to give us
spiritual life, it is in some way associated with this living
Jerusalem, the church here on the earth, and it is the gospel
that goes out in the power of His Spirit from that church. He speaks of it by the apostle
Peter. And he speaks of those who proclaim
the gospel in this way. He says, "...them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven."
These living waters flow down out of that Jerusalem of God. And I say that it is the gospel,
and it is, of course, Christ Himself, and also by the working
of His Spirit, because this is what is made reference to by
the Lord Himself, first of all, in John chapter 4. Turn over
to John chapter 4 and listen to a conversation that the Lord
Jesus Christ has with a woman that he has purpose to meet thereby
well in Samaria. And we know that because it says
in that fourth verse of John 4 that he must needs go through
Samaria. But now listen what follows.
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's well was there. There was a literal well that
had come to be called Jacob's well. But if you know anything
about Jacob, If you know anything about the grace and gospel of
God, if ever there was Jacob's well there, it was on this occasion
when Jacob's true well was there, the Lord Jesus Christ, because
old Jacob Bless his heart as we say here in the South. Bless
his heart. He was such a rebel and such
a conniver and such a supplanter and a trickster that the only
way that he could ever be saved from his sins, ever know God,
ever be blessed by God, was from that well of God's free and sovereign
grace, which is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. 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. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. 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? For Jews have no dealings with
the Samaritans. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Now you listen to this, If you knew, You think it's confusing
because I ask you for a drink of water, and you know all the
differences between the Jews and the Gentiles, and you don't
understand that. But there's something greater
you don't understand. If you knew the gift of God,
now you think about what he's about to talk about. This is
the gift of God. You'd be happy this morning if
I had brought you some gift, or if someone here had brought
you some gift. You'd be delighted with the gift.
We love gifts, except when it comes to this business of salvation. If you knew 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."
Here she is standing before the Son of God in human flesh. Here she is talking to him who
hath the words of life. Here she is standing face to
face with divine perfection and power, the Messiah, talking about
Him. But she doesn't know who He is.
And my friend, that's the sad thing about us. None of us will
ever know who He really is except He revealed Himself to us. He said, if you knew Him, You
would have asked Him. You'd be the one asking me, and
you'd be asking not for a drink of earthly water, but for living
water. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep, from which
then hast thou that living water. Now, it's amazing in this conversation,
Even the moral failure that she is, how much she knows about
religious things of her day, and traditions and religion,
all these things. But she doesn't know anything
about living water. "...Are thou greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle?" I'm sure that Jacob did drink
of that littoral well, but what she needs is the other well that
Jacob drank from. That's what we need. We need
more than a moral reformation. We need more than a good reputation. We need more than good works
done in the act of religion. We need living water. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water, the water from this well,
they'll thirst again. And that's true of every well
in this world. You can drink of the well of
help, you can drink of the well of prosperity, you can drink
of the well of fame, you can just drink out of whatever well
you drink out of, and that's what we're all by nature drinking
out of, but we will thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him." Have you ever drunk of that water? whosoever shall drink 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. Here is a well that is inside
the sinner. Here is a well that is a fountain
that springs up, it says. It springs up into everlasting
life. I can remember what a little
novel thing it was when I was young. Most likely is even more
so in this day. But wherever you could find what
we call was an overflow. You remember an overflow? I think
some call it an artesian well. You didn't have to dip it, you
didn't have to pump it, it flowed all the time. And it was such
a delight to find where everybody knew that little place where
there was that well, that overflow, And you could just go there and
drink it. Ah, it was the best water. That's the picture of
what it is that Christ is talking about here. It's not satisfaction
by something you get from the outside. It's satisfaction. It's a blessing. It's delight. It's that which is essential
to us, and He's caused it to spring up within us from our
hearts. That's what He's talking about.
And the woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that
I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." You see, she still
doesn't know who He is. She still does not know the gift
of God. She still does not know about
this living water because she's still associating it with the
physical water. And Jesus saith unto her." Now,
she's going to find out something now about her own need. You know,
the only person that really wants a drink of water is somebody
who's thirsty. By nature, we don't have this
thirst. He says, blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. But
we do not of ourselves ever desire that. We're always trying to
satisfy our flesh. We want to be full. We want to
be happy. We want to do this. We want to
do that. We want to accomplish this. And
the more we drink of those wells in our heart, though we will
not admit it, the thirstier we are. And unless He does like
that old hymn writer says, and create soul thirst within us,
we'll drink of these wells and we will thirst again. And that is one part of eternal
separation from God. It is unending thirst. That's the picture of hell. Send
Lazarus with just one drop of water to cool my tongue. I don't
know the extent of that literal fire and burning, but I know
it has to do with this soul thirst that is never quenched, that
is never satisfied until it drinks of this living water. Jesus saith
unto her, verse 16, Go call thy husband, and come hither. And
the woman answered and said, I have no husband. And Jesus
said unto her, Thou hast well said, you have said right, I
have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands. And he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband, in that saidest thou truly." Your problems are
bigger than you know, but I know them all. The woman saith unto
him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet." And this is a
natural response of a sinner to go off on a side trip in religious
issues to divert the attention of everyone, God especially,
and themselves from the real issue. Sir, our fathers worshiped
in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour comes when ye shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship you know
not what. We worship what we know, for
salvation is of the Jews, the true Jews. He who is a Jew inwardly,
not outwardly. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."
They're not seeking Him. Let me ask you this, was she
seeking Him? She was content to live in her
miserable life of blatant sin against God. She was content
to go before all the women of the town came out to get water
just so she wouldn't have to face them. She was content to
drink of what came up in that bucket. But He's seeking her. He seeks all His sheep. That's
why He must needs go through Samaria. Because here is a woman
who has drunk only all her days of that which satisfieth not."
Listen to what goes on. He says, God is Spirit, and they
that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. He said it isn't about where
you worship. It isn't about all these traditions
that you Samaritans have or that the Jews have. It isn't about
any of these things. It's about worshiping God in
spirit, by the Holy Spirit, not by all this outward paraphernalia
and external things. It's worshiping God in spirit
in the truth, the truth. And the woman saith unto him,
I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ, and when he
is come, he'll tell us all things." Now listen to the next statement.
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. Now you just think about it.
Here she is, this Samaritan woman. a base woman in herself. Here he is, a man that she has
just met for the first time in her life, and with the history
she's had with men, I would say she obviously wouldn't be too
trusting. And he's just told her he's the
Christ. There's no way you'll believe
it. There's no way it could be. But
she did, and it is. He has caused these living waters,
which He is Himself the water of life. And this truth that
He has just told her, it is living water, and His Spirit has flowed
in her heart. That well has sprung up in her
heart. How do you know that, preacher?
Verse 27, "'And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that
he talked with the woman. Yet no man said, What seekest
thou, or why talkest thou with her?' The woman then left her
waterpot." You talk about symbolism. You talk about symbolism. The
water that she had been drinking of, she had to gain by her own
efforts, carrying that heavy pot from the city and dropping
something down in the well and bringing it up and filling it,
then carrying it back to the city. She left her water pot. Why? Because she now has a fountain
of living water bringing up in her unto everlasting life." You
say, how can you be so sure that's actually what happened? Well,
listen, "...the woman then left her waterpot, and went her way
into the city, and saith to the men," that's the only ones who
would probably talk to her, listen to her, "...come see a man, which
told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ?"
That's the first bubblings of that living water. You see, that's
the first flowing of that gospel, not only in her heart and her
mind, but out of her mouth. She's telling somebody what has
happened to her. She's confessing that this man,
Jesus of Nazareth, he's the Christ. And I'll guarantee you, till
the day she dies, that fountain, kept springing up life in her,
and she confessed Him till the day she died." Why? Because it
couldn't be stopped. Because it's the truth. Because
it's the Spirit's perpetual work. Turn over just a few pages to
John chapter 7. John chapter 7, and look down
in verse 37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast," this is when everybody went back to their houses and
all these who'd come into Jerusalem for the feast, they all went
back to their various countries and stuff like that. He says,
in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cried saying, if any man thirst. He didn't say, you, you, and
you, and you, and you. He said, if any man thirst. You
thirsty? You've been drinking a long time
like I did at all these foolish fountains that were not fountains
at all, but cesspools, pools like that, that waters of morrow,
just bitter death?" He said, if you're thirsty, let him come
unto me and drink. But Christ is not here, is He?
He's not here bodily like He was by that well. But to let
us know what he's talking about, this business of drinking, which
requires the same work for us in us that it did of that woman
actually at the well talking to, she no more knew him or saw
him or saw any benefit in him than we do by nature. He says,
he that believeth on me. What does that mean? That means
this drinking is believing. That's what this means. the drink
of Christ. "...he that believeth on me,
as the Scriptures hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water." Out of his heart, out of his inner person,
out of his soul given life by God shall flow rivers of living
waters. Why? "...but this he spake of
the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God, which they that believe
on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given,
because that Jesus was not yet glorified." He that believes
really believes out of his belly, out of his heart. shall flow
these living waters, this message, this gospel, this confession
of Christ as our only hope, as our life, as this satisfying
in our souls. Why do we need this living water? Because we're dead. and dry. We are spiritually just like
most of this area has been physically this whole summer. Just dry,
dusty, lifeless, parched. Couldn't find enough of those
beautiful tomatoes to make a fine southern tomato sandwich with.
Dry and barren. That's a picture of us spiritually.
We need this water because it is essential to life. We need
this water because it's necessary for our cleansing. We need this
living water because it's vital to our satisfaction, God having
created that necessity in us. I remember what an old preacher
wrote. many years ago. He said, the foot of man's soul
never rests until it rests in God. Why is it that all these
wealthy people are so discontented and unsatisfied? Why would we
ever read and think about and meditate on all these so-called
celebrities who obviously have not found anything That satisfies
their soul. They run to drugs, they run to
this and that and the other, and then they commit suicide.
Jesus says, "...the water which I give is living water, and it
quenches thirst forever." It's living because it is eternal,
and the water that was in that well was temporary. It's living
because it symbolized the work of God's Spirit, and because
it was not local, but it was immovable. It's in Christ who's
the same yesterday and today and forever. And because it ends
up with eternal life. You see, when the gospel is brought
to our hearts by the Spirit of God, when we're enabled to see
and enter the kingdom, enter into the things of the kingdom,
except we be born of the water, the water of the Word and the
Spirit of God. We can't see or enter into the
kingdom of God. But the apostle says in Hebrews
1, speaking of Christ, who being the brightness, of His glory,
God's glory in the express image of His Person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself
purged our sins." When He had by Himself purged, what does
that word mean? Cleansed. He sat down at the
right hand of the Majesty on high. And when you see the vision
of the prophet where the water is said to be flowing out, this
river of life is flowing out from under the door of the house
or the sanctuary. It flows out of heaven, it says,
and it's measured, and it's measured first and it's just to the ankle,
and it's measured again and it's to the knee, and it's measured
again and it's to the waist until it rises to such a degree that
The prophet has to swim in it, just consumes it. That's what
happens to a sinner. When from heaven, through the
Lord Jesus Christ, God's Spirit takes that truth and He brings
it home to our souls. He shows us how dry and dusty
and dead we are. And He causes it to flow in our
hearts, the truth of Christ crucified, And it's water of life. The only
thing we're ever thirsty for again is thirsty for more of
that water. When He had by Himself purged
our sins. Oh, if that ever flows into your
soul, the fact that He's already, by His sacrifice, cleansed you,
purged you from all your sins, washed you. Hebrews 9, he says,
"'For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an
heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of
the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through
the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God?' There's
only one thing that'll wash you clean in God's sight, and there's
only one thing that'll wash your conscience clear of all guilt
and fear, and it's Christ. It's Christ. You see, the living
water comes to us through the Spirit of God enabling us to
believe on Christ. Jeremiah said, "'Blessed is the
man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when the heat cometh. But her leaf shall be green,
and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall
cease from yielding fruit.'" Wow! That's a believer. That's
one of God's elect there. That's one born of the Spirit
because he gets life from an unseen source and fountain. You see, Christ's God-pleasing,
justice-satisfying, sin-cleansing sacrifice, that living water
is our need when we're dead. He causes it to flow in our soul
and makes us alive. When we're dirty, it causes it
to flow in our conscious to make us clean. And when we're dry,
you know anything about what it is to feel dry as a believer?
Spiritually, in your heart of hearts, in your mind, when things
like for so long you've been just tramping around in a desert
place, cold, insensitive to the things of God, you would dry
up. were it not that He gives His
people living water. Death can't be where living water
is. Just about the time we come like
Elijah did when he came to that brook in the brook dry, we think
the spring is gone. But He causes it to spring up.
And He refreshes our hearts and our minds and makes sweet to
us again and satisfying to us again the things of Christ. Sometimes I can open this book
and sit down and try as I will, like walking in the dust. Then He comes to me and He gives
me a verse, a promise. He reminds me of Christ and Him
crucified. He reminds me of His grace. And
it becomes fountains of water, streams in the desert. If you
look in our verse, he says, half of them toward the former sea
and half of them toward the hinder sea. Maybe that's to Jew and
Gentile. Maybe that's to Old Testament
saints and New Testament saints. I don't know. But I do know this,
it covers all the Lord's people. Then he says this, in summer
and in winter shall it be. It doesn't depend on the seasons
of this world. It doesn't depend on the seasons
of this country. It doesn't depend on the seasons
of my circumstances, because he said, it shall be. It shall
be. Oh, it's true. As Jeremiah says,
for God through him, my people have committed two evils. They've
forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and they've hewed
them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. But the
psalmist said, there's a river. There is a river. It's not a
puddle. It's not a trickle. It's a river. There is a river. The streams
whereof make glad the city of God." There was a river that
flows unseen. I can't remember exactly where
or which city or what it was, but there was a city that a powerful
king besieged all around it. And he did everything possible
that he could think of to bring that city to its knees. But it
never happened. And then it was discovered that
there was an underground river that fed into that city. And
there was life there, and that which was necessary to sustain
life. That's the way the Lord's people
are. In Isaiah he said, I'll pour water upon him that is thirsty,
and floods upon the dry ground. I'll pour my Spirit upon thy
seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring. That's what God says
he'll do for his Christ. You remember when they were dying
of thirst there in the wilderness, those Israelites, and God commanded
Moses to strike that certain rock, and out of that rock then
flowed waters of life-giving, life-sustaining water. Paul said
that rock was Christ. If you remember, after the sacrifice
of the red heifer, And they consumed that sacrifice and saved the
ashes. And those ashes were mixed with
running water. When somebody was defiled and
unclean, they were to then take that water and sprinkle it on
them and pronounce them clean. Turn over to Isaiah 41. I'm on
close. Isaiah 41. Look down at verse
17. He says, when the poor and needy seek water. Does that describe you? Or do
you have all you need? You're not thirsty. When the
poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue
faileth for thirst, this is the condition that grace meets. This
is the state that God will bring us in order to save us. I, the Lord, we'll hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not
forsake them. I will open rivers in high places
and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water."
When they're poor and needy and thirsty. I've told you this probably
too many times, but I was watching a documentary on TV one time
years ago, and they were telling about life in the African desert
and things like that, how those people where there is little
or no water, how they survive. And one of the things they said
they did, that they would catch a monkey, and they would take
that monkey and take salt and put it in his mouth. And after
they had done that, and for a while, then they'd just turn the monkey
loose. And here he would go. And they'd
follow the monkey, because the monkey knew where the water was.
and they would follow Him to that water and they'd have water
themselves. God has to put salt in our mouths. He has to open our eyes to see
our own thirst and emptiness and barrenness and deadness spiritually. And He has to reveal to us the
living water, the soul-satisfying truth as it is in Christ Jesus. And that's why Christ said, if
any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. You say, well,
I don't know if I'm this, that, or the other. I don't either,
but I know this. He said, if any man's thirsty, Let Him come
unto me and drink." And this drinking is believing on Him. May the Lord make us all thirsty. May He bring us to the fountain
of life and bring the fountain of life to us. Father, we pray
this morning that You save Your people, that You would do as
You did for this woman at the well. May we be able to see and
believe and confess This is the Christ. This is the gospel. This is where life is and water
is and the bread of life. And this is where everything
is for here and for eternity. Jesus Christ, help us, we pray. You're worthy of all praise and
honor. And we pray and thank you in
Christ's name. Amen.