Turn back to Genesis 25, there's
a sign-up sheet for the Vacation Bible School back in the foyer
if you can help out. And pray for the Lord's blessing
on that. I pray that the Lord will be
used, use that time to reveal himself to the young people. I've entitled this message, Isaac
and His Wells. Isaac and His Wells. is such a glorious type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His supernatural birth. Him being the heir of everything,
everything going to Him. Him being offered up as a sacrifice
and slain by His Father. Genesis 22, what a glorious type
of Christ. And then the search for His bride,
In chapter 24, in verse 11 of chapter 25, we read,
and it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed
his son, Isaac. I'm interested in that, aren't
you? I want to be somebody who the living God has blessed. And Isaac dwelt by the well Lahoroi. Now there is less told about
Isaac than Abraham and Jacob. Much less time is devoted to
the middle of these three men, just a few chapters. But the
most notable thing regarding his life is his digging of wells. If you read in chapter 26, you'll
read of five different wells that he dug. And we don't read
anything like that anywhere else in the scripture. Now, at that
time, if you were going to live somewhere, what would you wanna
live close to? A well. I mean, think how difficult life
would be if you were not close to a well. And there was always
much importance put on living close
to a well, a source of water. And Isaac was preeminently a
man of the well. A man of the well. Now this typifies the life of
a believer. If any man thirst, let him come to me. and drink. It doesn't say how thirsty. Anytime I think of my thirst,
I think of it being not thirsty enough. I realize that, but it
doesn't say how thirsty. It says, if any man thirst, let
him come to me and drink. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. I love the way the Lord calls
himself the fountain of living waters in Jeremiah chapter two,
13. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter four. This is such a glorious passage
of scripture. It involves a well, it involves
being thirsty, and it involves drinking. John chapter 4. Let's go ahead and begin reading
in verse 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had
heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though
Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea
and departed again unto Galilee. I think that's glorious. Whenever
this talk of who has the most, who's baptized the most, who's
being the most used, who's God blessing the most, you know what
the Lord did? He left. He left. He's not gonna have
anything to do with that kind of thinking or that kind of talk. He left. And he must needs go through
Samaria. And there's only one reason why
he must need to do anything. He must need to do his father's
will. And one of his elect is there, and he's coming after
her. He must, needs, go through Samaria. 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. Been
there for centuries. They all knew who's well it was.
Jacob was famous to them. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus
therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well. And it was about noon. Hottest
time of the day, sun out. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Now I realize this is speculation,
but why was she there at noon? Because she didn't want to be
there in the morning when all the other women were there. I
can see the sneers she would get, the smirks she would experience. She was looked down upon. And
I feel quite sure that she felt more comfortable coming at noon
when she wouldn't have to face the women of the town. And we'll
see why in just a moment. Then cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water at noon. 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 the Jews have no dealing.
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, said unto her,
if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee,
give me to drink, thou would have asked of him and he would
have given thee living water. If you knew, and I can say this
to everybody, say it to me, if you knew, you would ask, and he would give. Well, the woman didn't know what
he was talking about, so she said in verse 11, 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? I wonder what he thought when
she said that. Which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle. Jesus answered
and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again. Now you can say that with regard
to everything in this world. You can say that with regard
to everything in this religious world. You drink of this water
and pretty soon you'll be thirsting again. you'll be looking for
something else because you won't find true satisfaction in anything
in this world. It's impossible. 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 unto everlasting
life. Now, I want you to think about
that. Christ says with regard to the water which he is, you
drink this water, you're not gonna be looking for anything
else. You're gonna be completely satisfied You will not want anything
but this water, and you're not looking for anything else. You're
satisfied. You know, I'm so satisfied to
be saved by Christ alone. I find such satisfaction in that.
I find such satisfaction in the power of his precious blood.
I don't need anything else. I'm not looking for anything
else. Well, don't you want to have some works that prove he's
done something for you? Not really. Soon as I start looking
for those, I'm gonna quit looking to Him. I'm completely satisfied
to simply be saved by Him in a way which He gets all the glory
and none goes to me and I love it that way. I don't want it
to be any other way. And I am satisfied. Beloved,
I'm satisfied to be saved by Christ, are you? I'm just satisfied. I'm not looking for anything
else. Somebody says, there's gotta be something else. Well,
you just never, you never drunk of this then. You ever drink
of this, you'll find complete satisfaction and you won't be
looking for anything else. Our gospel is incapable of improvement. Can't get better. The woman says unto him, she
still didn't know what he's talking about. Sir, give me this water
that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 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 whom thou now hast is
not thy husband, and that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto
him, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. You know all about
me. And then she begins her, what I guess we would call religious
mumbo jumbo that everybody just automatically goes to. Our fathers
worshiped in this mountain. And you say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto
her, woman, believe me. The hour cometh when you shall
neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem worship the
Father you worship, you know not what. For we know what we
worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh and
now is when the true worshipers, I wanna be on that group, don't
you? I wanna be on that. The hour is coming when the true
worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit, by the Holy
Spirit and in truth. according to the truth of the
gospel, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit,
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit, only by
the Holy Spirit, and in truth. The woman saith unto him, she
still didn't know what he was talking about, I know the Messiah
cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he'll tell us
all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee,
am he. What a revelation of his person.
He is the water of life, of which if you drink, you never will
thirst again. Now you'll thirst in every other
area in your life. Every other area. Not here you won't though. In that passage I've already
quoted in John chapter seven, verse 37. If any man thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters.
But this he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive. You see, it's only by the Spirit
of God we worship in the first place. Worship is impossible
for a natural man. It's only the new man, birthed
by the Spirit of God, that actually worships God in the first place.
And he worships God according to truth. Now this is just in
the life of the believer. I want to dwell near the water,
don't you? I want to dwell near the well. Now this first well
spoken of is called the well I'll probably pronounce it different
every time I pronounce it, but there it is. But here's what
the word means. It means the well of the living
one who sees me. The well of the living one who
right now, he sees me. Now, this is where the word Jehovah-Jireh
comes from. The Lord will see. The Lord will
see to it. Have you ever asked somebody
if they would do something and they said, I'll see to it. That's
what the Lord says. Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will
provide. Truly we dwell. in the place
of the Lord's provision. Now listen to this statement
carefully. All that he requires, he provides. All that he requires, he provides. He requires perfect righteousness,
He provides perfect righteousness as a gift. And it actually becomes
mine. He requires satisfaction to his
broken law. He provides that satisfaction. You remember when Abraham said
to Isaac when they were going up the mountain, Isaac said,
here's the fire, here's the wood, where's the lamb for the burnt
offering? God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. He provides, you don't provide
anything. You don't bring anything to the
table. Is that good news? You don't bring anything to the
table. No good feelings, no efforts, no intentions. He provides the
sacrifice. There's nothing you could provide
that he could accept, but he provides the sacrifice. He provides
the lamb. He provides himself as the lamb. Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide. He requires a new heart. He provides it. A new heart also
will I give you. Listen to me. God gives a heart
that you could never provide. It's not your old heart being
changed and improved. He gives a new heart that was
not there before. He requires faith. Without faith,
it's impossible to please God. Faith is His gift. He gives you
the faith. If you can't come to Christ with
faith, come to Christ for faith. Lord, give me this faith. Whatever
I need, you know what I need, give it to me. He requires repentance. No one is saved apart from repentance. Repentance is his gift. He requires
perseverance all the way to the end. Scripture says we're kept
by the power of God through faith and to salvation. Now unto him
that's able to keep you from falling. and to present you faultless
before his presence with exceeding joy. He sees me, he sees me in
Christ, he provides all in Christ. Now can this statement be overstated? Jesus Christ is all. Can that
possibly be overstated in any way? He's all to God, he's all
in my salvation, he's all I want, he's all I need, he's all God
requires, he's God's provision. Now that's where Isaac liked
to hang out. The well of him who sees me. Now, abiding there means that's
where you stay. You don't wanna go anywhere.
That's what he said. The Lord said, abide in me. If I abide in the Lord Jesus
Christ, that means I don't want to be anywhere else. I simply
want to be found in him so that all God sees is Jesus Christ. I always want to be right there. Now look in Genesis 26. Verse
17. Well, let's begin in verse 13.
And the man waxed great and went forward and grew until he became
very great. For he had possession of flocks
and possession of herds and great store of servants. And the Philistines
envied him. You know, if I ever need a reminder
of how evil I am right now, all I got to do is envy somebody.
When I see that rear up its ugly head in me, it lets me know just
how evil I still am, that I can have such a base emotion as envy. Well, they did. They envied him
so much, they wanted to fill up his wells. They were jealous
at the prosperity and blessing God gave to somebody else. For
all the wells which his fathers had digged in the days of Abraham,
his father, the Philistines, had stopped them and filled them
with the earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us,
for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence
and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there. And
Isaac digged again. the wells of water which they
had digged in the days of Abraham, his father, for the Philistines
had stopped him up after the death of Abraham. For he called
them by their names after the names by which his father had
called them. And Isaac's servants digged in the valley and found
there a well of springing water. Now my marginal reading says
a well of living water. Christ is the water of life. Let me take it even further.
Christ is life. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. And he said in Colossians 3,
when Christ who is our life shall appear. Now let me tell you exactly
what that means. by the grace of God. People try to live the Christian
life. Not me. My life is Christ. I am the way, the truth, the
life. Are you saying you're indifferent
about how you live? No, but Christ is my life. His life is my life
to this extent. All God sees is the life of Jesus
Christ, and that really is my life, and he is well pleased. Now that's the gospel. When I
stand before God, if I stand in anything other than the life
of Christ, I'll be cast off. Christ is the life. No man comes
to the Father but by me, he said. Now, he's the cause of my life. The son quickens whom he will. If I have spiritual life, it's
because he quickened me. He's the cause of my life. He
himself is my life. I love thinking about this. When
my name is called on judgment day, the life of Christ is my
life before God. No wonder I'm gonna hear him
say, well done thou good and faithful servant. Everything
I've done is perfect in Christ Jesus. His life is my life. He's the cause of my life. The
reason I have life is He quickened me. He's the sustenance of my
life, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no life in you. This then is the record that
God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.
He that hath the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life. I think of when the Lord watched
those people leave after he had preached the gospel, they left. And he didn't ask them to come
back, but he looked at the 12 and he said, will you also go
away? What was Peter's answer? To whom shall we go? Thou hast
the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Now listen
to me, there's no spiritual life apart from hearing and believing
the words of eternal life. You cannot hear what you have
not believed. All of God's people will hear
and believe. I think of what the Lord said,
he that's of God, heareth God's words. You therefore hear them
not because you're not of God. He that's of God, heareth God's
word, the words of eternal life. I love that scripture in James
1 18 of his own will, begat he us through the word of truth. Now stay in chapter 26 and let's
begin reading in Verse 20, and the herdsmen of Gerar did strive
with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, the water is ours. And he called
the name of the well, Isik, because they strove with him. Now, when
you have the water of life, that's when trouble begins. That's when
contention begins. Never forget, the Lord said,
I came not to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send
peace. came to send a sword. Those are the Lord's words. I've
come to set a man at variance against his father, and the mother
against his daughter, and the mother-in-law against his daughter-in-law.
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. The Lord
said that, not me. And whenever there is the gospel,
there will be contention. It's promised. In the world you
shall have tribulation. And he removed from thence, verse
22, and digged another well. And for that they strove not,
and he called the name of it, wait a minute, verse 21, and
they digged another well, and strove for that also, and he
called the name of it Sitna. That means hatred. Hatred. You know the world, particularly
the religious world, hates the gospel of Jesus Christ. They
just flat hate it. If the gospel I believe is not
bringing on the enmity of this religious world, I'm not preaching
the gospel. I'm not believing the gospel.
It was called hatred. Verse 22, and he removed from
thence and digged another well. And for that they strove not,
and he called the name of it Rehoboth. And he said, for now
the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the
land. Now, that word means wide places. Now this is talking about the
width of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's only one room where I
can fit into in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only room
I can fit into. That's the only one wide enough
to receive me. In the Lord Jesus Christ, the
liberty that's in him He hath made us accepted in the beloved,
and that's where all God's grace is. It's the only place I want
to be in Christ. It means open spaces. Liberty. Oh, the liberty that's in Christ
Jesus. Here's what liberty is, not looking
to yourself for anything, looking to him for everything. And resting
completely in what he did is all that's needed to make me
perfect before God. I don't wanna be anywhere else.
In Christ, when the Lord said, abide in me, he's a big place
to abide. There's so much room in him,
is the only place there's room enough for you? Really is, but
oh, what liberty and freedom there is. This is a room where
all of God's blessing, all of God's favor, all of God's grace,
all of God's mercy is. And we don't wanna be anywhere
else, do we? Abide in Christ, this well of width. That's where I want to be. Well,
let's go on reading. And he went up from thence to
Beersheba. That's the well Abraham dug. It's called the well of the sevenfold
oath. We're going to close with that.
I'm going to tell you what that means. And the Lord appeared unto him
the same night and said, I am the God of Abraham, thy father
fear not, for I am with thee and will bless thee. I wanna hear him say that to
me, don't you? Fear not. If God be for us, who can be
against us? Fear not. I am with thee and will bless
thee and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. And
all the blessings we have are for Christ's sake. And he built
an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched
his tent there. He wanted to stay there at that
well. And there Isaac's servants digged a well. Then Abimelech
went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzath, one of his friends, and Philco,
the chief captain's army, and Isaac said to them, wherefore
come ye to me, saying, you hate me, and have sent me away from
you? And Abimelech shows how wise he was, and they said, we
saw certainly that the Lord was with thee. And we said, let there
be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let
us make a covenant with thee, that thou will do us no hurt,
as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee
nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace. Thou art
the blessed of the Lord. And he made them a feast, and
they did eat and drink, and they rose up betimes in the morning,
and swear one to another, And Isaac sent them away and they
departed from him in peace. And it came to pass the same
day that Isaac's servants came and told him concerning the well
they were digging and said, we found water, another well. And he called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city
is Beersheba unto this day. Now that word means the well
of the sevenfold oath. Seven being perfection and completion. Now let me tell you why my salvation
is perfected and completed because of the oath of God. God promised. It's not me and
God striking a deal. It's God promising. It's because
of the purchase of Jesus Christ. He put away my sin. And I have
no sin. That's why God blesses me. I have no sin in Christ Jesus. And God the Holy Spirit has given
me a life that cannot die. The life of God in my soul. The new nature. And that's every
believer's hope. Here's the reason I'm gonna continue. God gave an oath concerning my
salvation. That's true of every believer.
David said, although my house be not so with God, yet hath
he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure. And this is all my salvation.
Mine do, David. And all my desire, mine do, David. What a blessed thing. The reason
our salvation is secure is because of the precious blood of Christ.
He's put away all our sin, and I stand before God without guilt.
And God the Holy Spirit has birthed me into his kingdom, and every
believer has the life of God in their soul, the new nature. Now that is the well we wanna
drink of, isn't it? The well of the sevenfold oath. Isaac and his wells. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you that you're
the fountain of life. That your son gives that water. He is the water, which if we
drink will never thirst again. How we thank you that your spirit
is within us, a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. accept our Thanksgiving, and
as we look toward the coming week,
may we be continually drinking of the fountain of living water. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in his name we pray.