The Woman At The Well

Q: What does the Bible say about election?

The Bible teaches that God saves His people according to His purpose, demonstrating that election is intentional and purposeful. The concept of election is rooted in the understanding that God saves people purposefully and not by accident. As seen in the narrative of the woman at the well in John 4, Jesus must go through Samaria because He has sheep there. He seeks out the lost and the needy, indicating that His actions are deliberate and grounded in divine election. Romans 8:28 tells us that all things work together for good to those who are called according to His purpose, affirming that every aspect of our salvation is designed by God. This aligns with Isaiah 46:10, where God declares His plans and guarantees their fulfillment.

Q: How do we know God is merciful?

God's mercy is demonstrated through His actions towards sinners, as illustrated by Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. The narrative of the woman at the well reveals God’s mercy towards sinners. Despite her past and the cultural divide between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus initiates a conversation with her to reveal Himself and offer her living water. This act of reaching out to someone perceived as unworthy exemplifies God’s character as merciful and compassionate. As stated in Psalm 130:3, if God marked iniquity, who could stand? Yet, there is forgiveness in Him, reflecting His readiness to pardon and restore those who come to Him with their sins and needs. Jesus represents this mercy as He meets the woman in her time of need, demonstrating that mercy is an essential aspect of God's salvific work.

Q: Why is the concept of living water important for Christians?

Living water symbolizes the eternal life and spiritual satisfaction that only Jesus can provide. The concept of living water is crucial for Christians as it signifies the eternal life offered through Christ. Jesus tells the woman at the well that whoever drinks of the living water He gives will never thirst again, illustrating that true satisfaction and spiritual fulfillment come from a relationship with Him. This living water relates to the divine life and grace that sustains believers, as indicated in John 4:14, where He emphasizes that this water will become a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Additionally, water is essential for all and serves as a representation of spiritual sustenance, showing that our deepest longings can only be quenched by Christ. Thus, the metaphor of living water highlights the necessity of depending on Jesus for life and truth.

Q: What lesson can we learn from the woman at the well?

The woman at the well illustrates that Jesus seeks out the lost and transforms lives through His grace. The story of the woman at the well is a powerful illustration of Jesus’ mission to seek and save the lost. This woman, marginalized by society due to her past, encounters Jesus, who knows her sins and still offers her living water. This encounter reveals the transformative nature of grace; when she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, her life is changed completely. She abandons her water pot, symbolizing her former life, and becomes a witness to others in her town about Christ’s redeeming power. This transformation emphasizes that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace, and it encourages Christians to embrace the mission of evangelism, knowing that Jesus seeks out sinners and offers them new life.

I'm going to be preaching today
from John chapter 4. I'd like for you to get your
Bibles, and I'll be going verse by verse in this message and
covering several verses from the Gospel of John chapter 4. I'd like very much for you to
get your Bibles and follow along with me. And most of you are
familiar with this Scripture that I'm preaching from today.
You've heard of the Samaritan woman, or most people call this
portion of Scripture, the woman at the well. And you're familiar
with it, you've heard many messages on this subject, the woman at
the well, or John chapter 4. But I believe that you're led
of God to listen to this message today. That you'll see some things
that you have not seen before. Now, our Lord was walking from
Judea to Galilee. And it says in verse 4, look
down at verse 4, John chapter 4, verse 4. It says in verse
4, and he must needs go through Samaria. He's going from Judea
to Galilee. And it said he must, he must
go through Samaria. Now, to go from Judea to Galilee,
you would, the most direct route, you would go through Samaria.
But, however, most of these strict Orthodox Jews would not go through
Samaria. They would take the longer route
around Samaria. If they were going from Judea
to Galilee, they'd take the long route because the Jews and the
Samaritans had no dealings with one another. But it says here
that our Lord must go through Samaria. And I'll tell you why
He must go through Samaria. Our Lord must go through Samaria
because He has some sheep there. We know of one, the woman at
the well, and then there were others, it said, who believed
on Him in Samaria. And our Lord must need go through
Samaria, just like He said to the disciples, the Son of Man
must be lifted up. If I be lifted up from the earth,
I'll draw all men to me, and I must be lifted up. And our
Lord has sheep in Samaria, and He must go through there. He
said, other sheep I have which are not of this foal, I must
bring them. The Son of God must bring His
sheep to Himself. There was an old pastor down
in Texas named Dr. Gamble. I don't remember his
first name. But he'd been pastor at this certain church for a
long, long time and living in the same house. And he had a
flower garden. He raised roses. And one day
he was out working in his flower garden, and a neighbor lady came
over. And she'd known him for years. She never attended his
church. She went to church somewhere else, but they were friends and
neighbors. And she came over while he was
working out in his flower garden one day, and she said, Dr. Gamble, she said, do you believe
in election? Do you believe the Bible teaches
election, that God elects to the people the salvation? Oh,
he said, I certainly do. She said, well, you explain it
to me. Well, he said, sister, he said, are you saved? Well,
she said, I am. I am. I'm a believer. He said,
who saved you? Why, she said, God saved me.
He said, well, God saved you. Did He do it by accident or was
it on purpose? Oh, she said, I'm sure He saved
me on purpose. It was no accident. He said,
that, my dear lady, is election. Everything God does, he does
on purpose. And when this scripture says,
our Lord must need go through Samaria, it's for a purpose. It's to fulfill his purpose and
his will and find his sheep. It's like Romans 8, 28 says,
and we know that all things work together for good to them who
love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Everything
God does, He does on purpose. He said in Isaiah, have I not
purposed it? And shall I not bring it to pass?
Have I not spoken? And shall I not do it? He must
these go through Samaria. Now look at verse 5. It says,
Then cometh the Lord Jesus to a city of Samaria called Sycharth. And Jacob's well was there. Now
pause here for a moment. You see, Jacob, many, many years
ago, Jacob gave this land to Joseph, many years ago. And Jacob's
well was there. And this well had served these
people in the area of Samaria for many, many centuries. But
here's the thing I want you to notice. He came to Samaria, to
a city called Sychar, and Jacob's well was there. But it says in
that next verse, look at it, verse 6, note this now, Jesus,
being weary with his journey, sat down on the well. The Lord
Jesus Christ, being weary, tired with the long journey, sat down
on the well, and it was noon. Jesus, weary, isn't Jesus God? Yes, He is. Isn't Jesus The only
begotten Son of God, yes. Almighty, all-powerful, eternal,
deity, God Almighty, yes. And Jesus weary? Jesus thirsty? Jesus sitting down to rest? Jesus
hungry? He sent his disciples into town
to buy some food. Didn't he just feed 5,000 people
with only two loaves, five loaves and two fish? Now, you learn
some truth here. Jesus Christ was weary, actually
weary, tired, hungry, thirsty. When this woman came to the well,
He asked for a drink of water. He made the seas and the lakes
and the streams, and He makes it to rain. And here He is sitting.
Here is this man, Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God. All things
were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. And here he is sitting, weary,
tired, hungry, thirsty, on a whale? What this Scripture is showing
us, emphatically, that Jesus Christ is a man. He's the God-man. As much God as if he had never
become a man. As much man as if he had never
been God. Tempted in all points as we are,
tested, tried, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. You
see, The Lord Jesus Christ, by His unlimited power, fed multitudes,
healed sick people, gave sight to the blind, even raised the
dead. But He never performed one miracle, not a single one,
to relieve His own pain, His own distress, His own suffering,
His own thirst, His own hunger. Satan said to Him, when He fasted
40 days one time, said, make these stones into bread. You're
hungry, make them into bread. He couldn't. and be my substitute and be my
savior and be my representative in yours because he had to be
a man limited by the flesh that's right Jesus Christ was a man
and he sat down on the well tired and weary weary with the journey
a man of sorrows acquainted with grief in every respect and in
all ways he was a man the man Christ Jesus all right look at
verse 7 then cometh a woman a woman of Samaria to draw water. And
when this woman came, now it's noon, it's high noon. And when
this woman came to the well, the Lord Jesus Christ said to
her, Woman, give me a drink. Give me a drink. Now this woman
came to the well at noon to draw water. And I'll tell you why
she came at noon. You see, most women came to the well in the
morning, early morning. They got water for washing, for
cooking, for cleaning their clothes. Bathing they got it early in
the morning before the heat of the day, but here the Sun is
at its peak And there's no one there. This is a this is a common
gathering place This is the place where people have been coming
for water for centuries, and there's no one there not at high
noon Christ is that sitting on that way, but this woman was
a woman of poor reputation She'd been married five times She was
living at that time with a man who was not her husband Everybody
in town knew her. And they knew about her life,
her past and her present life. And she was embarrassed. Just
embarrassed to come to the well when the other women came. They
would shun her, talk about her. So she came when she was alone. And the Master was there waiting
for her. Because my Lord delights to show
mercy. Our Lord is merciful to sinners. David wrote, O Lord, if Thou
shouldst mark iniquity, who would stand? But there's forgiveness
within. And here our Lord came to the
well and sat down waiting on this woman, waiting because she's
one of His sheep. He came there to meet her and
to reveal Himself to her. This is so interesting. You're
familiar with John 4, the woman at the well. You're familiar
with John chapter 3, aren't you? Nicodemus. Look at the difference. In John chapter 3, there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus. They named him. Famous
man. Here in John 4 is a woman. Nobody
ever knows her name. In John chapter 3, here comes
a man to the Lord Jesus, a man of great position and wealth
and power. He was a man of the Pharisees,
the highest office among the Jewish preachers, theologians. Here in John 4 is a poor sinful
woman, married five times. In John 3, a favored Jew. In
John 4, Samaritan. In John 3, a man of strict morals,
integrity, law keeper. In John 4, openly rebellious
young woman. In John chapter 3, Nicodemus
sought Christ. He sought Him for Whatever reason,
I don't know, but he wanted to discuss theology with him. This
woman didn't seek Christ. He sought her. In John chapter
3, Christ gave Nicodemus an impossible task. He said, you must be born
again. You must be born again. That's
impossible with men. Possible with God, but not with
me. In John 4, he gave this woman something she couldn't do. He
said, you give me a drink. And he said to her later, if
you knew who was talking to you, you'd ask of me and I'd give
you living water. But my, she was shocked. Look
at verse 9. And the woman was shocked when
this Jewish man asked her, a Samaritan, for a drink of water. And she
said to him, she said, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask
drink of me, a Samaritan? Don't you know that the Samaritans
and Jews have nothing to do with one another? So how is it now
that you've asked me for a drink of water? Oh, I'll tell you,
the humility and condescension of our Lord became doubt. I'll tell you, the greatest distance between
any two points is the distance between deity and humanity. Christ became a man. Our Lord
was identified with us. He came low. Yes, let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took
upon himself the form or habit of a servant, became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Oh, the humility. Our Lord's a friend of sinners.
He came down. He identified with us. And sitting
on this well here at High Noon, He's talking to a great sinner,
a needy sinner. And he says, give me a drink.
Give me a drink. Give me a drink. She said, well,
don't you know the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans?
Now look at verse 10. And he answered her and he said,
woman, if you knew the gift of God. Now she had said, don't
you know? Don't you know? He said, if you
knew. Don't you know the Jews have nothing to do with us Samaritans?
He said if you knew the gift of God and who it is that's talking
to you, you'd ask me and I'd give you living water. Can't
you just picture this scene? And this is reenacted all the
time. Here stands a woman. I mean a
needy creature, a sinful creature, a rebellious creature. In flesh, in sin, in need, in
infirmities, in weakness. And sitting right looking at
her is the Lord of Glory. The Lord of Glory, the Creator
of heaven and earth, the One who has all power. In Him is
life, in Him is light, in Him is holiness, in Him is truth,
in Him is salvation, in Him is redemption, in Him is everlasting
life. And this woman brings up the
most foolish, simple, childish thing in the world. Don't you
know that the Jews don't have anything to do with the Samaritans?
What childish, childish talk. What foolishness. Here's the
Son of God, and He says to her, if you knew the gift of God,
what is the gift of God? It's eternal life. It's eternal
life. That's the gift of God. The wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God's eternal life. And if
you knew the gift of God, which is eternal life, if you just
knew who was talking to you, who is He? He was in the world,
and the world didn't know Him. He came to His own, and His own
received Him not. You would ask of Me, and I'd
give you living water. People are sidetracked on all
of the unimportant issues about divisions and denominations and
arguments and splits and all of these things. Strife and envy. And here is the Lord of glory.
Here is the Word of God. Here is the truth of God. Here
is the salvation of sinners. Here is the sacrifice of the
Son of God. Here is the righteousness worked
out by the perfect Son of God. Here is the truth. And yet they
get on all these other issues. Don't you know? that you're not
supposed to have anything to do with us and we're not supposed
to have anything to do with you. He said if you knew, if you could just
consider and think the gift of God and who's talking to you,
you'd ask. You have not because you ask
not. He said you ask that you might consume it on your lust,
but you ask and it'll be given, you seek and you'll find, knock
and it'll be open, ask me and I'll give you life. You know why eternal life is
compared to water frequently in the scripture? Christ said,
I'm the living water. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me. Out of his belly shall flow the rivers of living water.
You know why water is a figure of salvation? I'll tell you why.
Four reasons. First, water is the gift of God.
Water is the gift of God. Secondly, water comes from above.
Even the water table depends on the rain from above. All water
comes from above. Thirdly, water is the need, need
of all people. Everybody needs water. And fourthly,
water is absolutely necessary. There's death without it. That's
why Christ is the water. And he says to this woman, water
is the gift of God. Water is from above. Water is
the need of everybody, especially you. And without it, you'll die. Now if you knew the gift of God,
you'd ask me, and I'd give you living water, life from above,
eternal life, salvation. Now listen to her. She still
doesn't understand, and most people don't. Listen to her. The woman said, you don't have
anything to draw with. The well is deep. Where do you
get this living water? Are you greater than our father
Jacob who gave us this well? who drank from it himself and
all of his children. Oh, how blind we are. We're blind
like she is. Christ is speaking of spiritual
water, spiritual forgiveness, spiritual life, and she's bound
to this earth. And still talking about all of
these physical, material things. That precious scripture over
in Isaiah 53. For it says, our Lord, by His
stripes we're healed, He bore our sicknesses and our diseases.
And everybody wants to talk about sicknesses of this natural body,
and diseases of this natural body. And they want God to heal
this natural body, but this body's going to die. Someday it's going
to die. No matter how many times you're
healed, it's a part of the man who wants to die. But the scripture
here in Isaiah 53 is talking about spiritual sickness, and
spiritual diseases, and spiritual leprosy, and spiritual need.
That's what Christ is talking to this woman about. If you knew
the gift of God, and it's not to repair this old natural body,
it's to save our souls. It's not to put away our cancer,
it's to put away our sin. It's not to make us live always
in this veil of tears and valley of shadows, it's to make us live
always in glory. And he said, if you knew the
gift of God, you'd ask me and I'd give you living water. She
said, you don't have nothing to draw with. And the well is
deep. Listen to Christ in verse 13.
Woman, whosoever drinks of the water of this well shall thirst
again. You can drink this water every
day and tomorrow you got to have another drink, the next day another
drink. You got to keep coming back to this well. And you can
write those words above every well of this world. Whosoever
drinks of this water shall thirst again. This water will thirst
again because it can never satisfy thirst. It can never give satisfaction. And you can put this over the
political wells and the social wells and the material wells
and the religious wells. You never find any peace or rest
or satisfaction in this world. It can't give it. The world cannot
give peace and rest and joy and satisfaction. And that's what
he's saying there. He says, woman, whoso drinks
of this water is going to keep thirsty. But if any man drink
of the water that I shall give him, this spiritual life, holy
life, salvation, redemption, the nature of God, he'll never
thirst again. Never. Oh, I tell you, whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst,
but that water shall be in him a well of living water springing
up unto everlasting life. What is this water? It's the
water I give him. I give him. It's spiritual life.
It's the life of Christ. It's the water that I shall give
him. It's the Spirit of God. It's the life of God in the soul. It's salvation. It's a new heart,
new nature. He'll never thirst again. He'll
always have peace and joy and rest and comfort in Christ Jesus
and hope. And this well, this water of
spiritual life will be in Him. He won't have to go somewhere
to get it renewed and refreshed. It's in Him. And it's springing
up, springing up. Are some of you old enough to
remember the old spring houses that we had years ago, back before
people had refrigerators before they had deep freezes and all
these things. We used to have, most folks in
the country had a spring. Water came out of the hillside.
And you'd build a spring house over where the spring came out
of the hillside so the animals couldn't get to it. And they
kept their milk in the spring, and they kept their watermelons,
and they kept all things in the spring house to keep them cool.
That's where they got their water. And that spring always flowed,
just always flowed. Never run dry, just kept on flowing.
And that's what Christ is saying, if you ask of me, I'll give you
living water, springing up within and you'll never thirst again.
Well, the woman said, listen, give me this water that I come
no more to this well and draw water. She's tired. She wants
Christ to keep her from having to work anymore and draw water
and come to the well. She said, give me this water.
She still doesn't understand. Still doesn't understand. That
he's talking about spiritual life, spiritual thirst. I heard
a preacher the other day say, God wants you to be wealthy and
God wants you to be healthy. In this world? Lay not up for
yourselves treasures on this earth, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies. Yes, wealthy riches in Christ,
inheritance reserved for you, not here, there. Help in your
heart and soul not necessarily your body and he's got to he's
got to get her attention now And he's got to get her mind
on her real problem her real problem her real need her loneliness
Her separation from God so he says to look at verse 16 go call
your husband Go call your husband just like
that right out of the clear blue sky He knew where her heartache
was. He knew why she was here alone.
He knew why she wasn't here with the other women. He knew her
sin, her shame, her life. He knew all of these things.
He knew her. That's why he crossed her path.
And that's why he came to meet her. And that's why he came here
to reveal himself to her. But she's got to learn it. She's
got to face it. And she looked at him and said,
I don't have a hook. And he said, you've well said you have no
husband. You've had five. And the man you're living with
now is not your husband. See, her problem wasn't physical
thirst and physical hunger and physical poverty and physical
disease. Her problem was sin. Your sins have separated you
and God. The wages of sin is death. Sin,
when it's finished, bringeth forth death. All is sinned and
comes short of the glory of God. And Christ is bringing her face
to face with a real problem. Sin. Sin. And she looked at him and said,
well, I perceive you're a prophet. And then she turned to her religion.
She said, our fathers worshiped in this mountain. You Jews say
you're supposed to worship in Jerusalem. Our Lord said to a
woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this
mountain worship God nor in Jerusalem. You worship you know not what,
but God is a spirit. And they that worship God must
worship Him in spirit and truth. So she shut up. She shut up to
one thing. And that's what she said in verse
25. Look at it. She said, well, the Messiah's
coming. I've read about the Messiah.
I've heard about the Messiah. That God's going to send a Messiah.
God's going to send a Christ. God's going to send a Redeemer.
And He's coming. And when He comes, He'll straighten
out all these problems. He'll show us all things. And
our Lord said, woman, I'm he. I'm the Messiah. And I'll tell
you a scripture says she believed. She dropped her water pot. She
ran down to the village. She said, come see a man that
told me everything I've ever done. Is not this the Christ?
Is not this the Messiah? And all the village came out
and they heard him preach. And many believed, and some of
them said to the woman, we believe, not because of what you said,
but we've heard him ourselves. We've heard him ourselves. Ah,
he must need to go through Samaria, because there's a woman there
that belongs to him. And he had to bring her through
all of this to get her to face her sins, her real need. Not
physical water, spiritual water. Not worldly rest, spiritual rest. Not really peace, peace with
God. And that's found in the Messiah.
When the Messiah comes, he'll tell us. Christ Jesus said,

The Woman At The Well

What does the Bible say about election?

How do we know God is merciful?

Why is the concept of living water important for Christians?

What lesson can we learn from the woman at the well?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

The Woman At The Well

What does the Bible say about election?

How do we know God is merciful?

Why is the concept of living water important for Christians?

What lesson can we learn from the woman at the well?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book