HAVE you found, my dear unsaved friend, that the world has not satisfied you? You started out in life expecting to be wonderfully happy and bright. You, like the woman at Sychar’s well, have found that the well is deep. There is an inward craving in your heart and conscience. The pleasures of the world pall on your taste. They do not satisfy you. She had proved the same.
Hearing of living water she says to the Lord, “From whence then hast Thou that living water?” Are you, my friend, a stranger to the living water? Do you understand its meaning? If you have never drunk of this living water, I pity you. Then she goes on to say, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?”
Now mark the Lord’s answer. He does not answer all these questions. He wanted to get at her heart, and so He says, “Whosoever drinks of this water SHALL THIRST AGAIN; but Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him SHALL NEVER THIRST.” What does that mean? Soul satisfaction. The knowledge of God brings deep, divine satisfaction into the heart of the one who gets this living water. “Whosoever drinketh,” that is free enough. The water that the Lord shall give him shall be in him a fountain, rather than a well. It is a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Everlasting life is what God proposes for you. Not only is the believer born of water and of the Spirit, but he gets the Holy Ghost to dwell in him, shedding the love of God abroad in his heart. Then this living water springs up. It is worship, and joy, and gladness.
He that drinks of “this water”— the joys of this fleeting world—shall thirst again. Your soul is not saved, and your heart is not happy, and as you enter your concert or place of amusement, I will tell you what I would like to write over it: “He that drinketh of this water shall thirst AGAIN.”
“Yes,” you say, “I enjoy it, but I want more.” You are not satisfied. I know what the polished floor of the ballroom is. When I was an unconverted young man, I was always the first upon it in the evening, and the last to leave it in the morning. Was I satisfied? No. There was something I wanted. I wanted Christ, and He wanted me. Look at what the Lord says— “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” Note that, my dear worldling. Go you to any place of amusement that you like, and I will write over every door, “Shall thirst again.” Is it to be forever? Answer that query.
Dear reader, I beseech you to come to Christ and find in Him abiding satisfaction. It is to be found nowhere else.
I met a man in a train once, who told me he was going to Paris.
“What for?” said I.
“A fortnight’s enjoyment,” he answered.
“A fortnight would not do for me, my friend,” I replied. “You are traveling a long way to get it. I do not have to go so far to get my enjoyment.”
“Don’t you?” he rejoined. “How do you manage it?”
“I carry it with me,” said I.
“What do you mean?” he inquired.
“I carry Christ with me. I have Christ in my heart, and He has said, ‘The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.”
Now in John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24) we read: “He that heareth My Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.” You say, It is enough to make a man long for it, who has not got it. I admit that, but it is a great deal sweeter when you taste it. It will turn the unsatisfied face of the worldling into a radiant countenance, like that of Stephen, which shone like the face of an angel. He knew Christ, and he enjoyed Christ.
Now God holds out this living water for you today. Hear what it says in one of the very last verses of the Bible: “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:1717And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)). And again, “I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:66And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. (Revelation 21:6)). This takes you up to the very source of all blessing. What is the source of it? The heart of God. What has been the channel of that love? The cross of Christ. And what has come down? Living water. Who for? Sinners who have served the devil, lust, and sin all the days of their life until grace has met them. What does this grace want to do? Transform that weary, empty heart of yours—that is always wanting something—into a fountain of living water, that has always something to give to God, in the way of worship and thanksgiving, and to men in the way of loving, living testimony.
Now the woman, in the narrative of John 4, was evidently very much impressed by the Lord’s words. She was thirsty and said, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not. Neither come hither to draw.” Then the Lord said to her, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither.” What a change in the conversation! He had attracted her, and cast out all fear of Himself from her heart. She felt that He spoke like no one that she had ever met before. Then all of a sudden, He says, “Go, call thy husband.” She began to wince. She had a conscience. So have you, and your conscience tells you when you are not right. Her conscience was touched, and therefore in a moment she says, “I have no husband.” Very well, what was that? It was only half the truth, uttered to conceal the other half, that she did not want to be known. She knew the life she was living, and, dear unsaved reader, you know the life you are living. The Lord knows your private life, and you cannot conceal it from Him. You do not want your neighbor to know it.
Mark what the Lord says now to 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: in that saidst thou truly.” He knew how she was living, and, beloved friend, God knows how you are living. I do not care to know, but God knows your life.
Now her conscience is reached. It is a wonderful moment. There was Jesus and that poor sinner. For the first time in her life she was alone with Jesus. Have you ever been alone with Jesus? Have you been shut out from every mortal eye, conscious only that the eye of God is upon you? Now, mark, it is not a moment to be dreaded. That is the moment above all to be desired, to be alone with God, learning yourself on the one hand, and learning God on the other, God revealed, in perfect grace, in the person of the Son.
Jesus does not frighten this woman. He says, as it were, What you have said is the truth, but it is not all the truth, and I know the whole truth. She says, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” She stood a convicted sinner.
You will find four things in this chapter, a convicted sinner, a revealed Saviour, a consecrated witness, and a converted company, as the result of her witness.
“Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet,” she said. Now, a prophet in Scripture is not merely one who foretells things to come. A prophet in Scripture brings the conscience into God’s presence. I will ask you, Have you ever had a moment like this in your soul’s history? I press that point. It is of vital importance to be alone with God. You will learn there your sin, guilt, and defilement, but you will likewise learn the grace of God, as you have never tasted it before.
Well, then, she turns aside, and begins to talk about worship, and the manner of it, and where, but the Lord then makes a wonderful assertion to her, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship Him (vs. 23). How beautifully the Lord unfolds to her the character of the present moment. Who are the true worshippers? Poor sinners, saved by grace. Look at the three seekers “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:88Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (1 Peter 5:8)). On the other hand, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). Satan seeks your destruction; Jesus seeks your salvation.
But there is a third seeker. The Father seeketh worshippers to worship Him. Beloved friend, the gospel of God’s grace, which brings pardon through the blood of Christ, peace through your soul’s resting on the work of Christ, and eternal life as the gift of God in Christ, transforms the worldling into a worshipper. God is now ransacking the world to find worshippers. Who are they? Nominal Christians? No. Real ones. Are you one? We will begin with you. Have you got eternal life? Have you got that living water? The Father seeks worshippers. Are you one in reality?
Mark next what the woman says. “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ; when He is some, He will tell us all things.” She takes refuge in the thought of a new revelation from God being made to her in the coming Christ. Jesus said to her “I that speak to thee am He.” She was looking for some One to come? “I am He,” says the Lord. There you have a revealed Saviour. This is a lovely scene, a convicted sinner face to face with a revealed Saviour. The sinner needs the Saviour, and the Saviour is on the look out for the sinner. Has Christ ever revealed Himself to you in that way? Has the Son of God, has the Lord Jesus so dealt with you that you have had a sense, not only that He is a prophet, and knows all about you, but that He is a Saviour? Yea, your Saviour.
Now when the Lord Jesus says to this woman, “I... am He,” what does she do? Flee from Him? No. When He revealed her guilt to her she still stayed on. She was not afraid of Him. No, there is grace about Christ that draws the heart to Him.
Then she becomes a consecrated witness. The woman left her water pot, the symbol of her earthly toil. Back she goes into the city, quite waterless, as far as the earthly water was concerned, but with her heart full to the brim and overflowing with the living water He had given her. She was no trained preacher, but she could not keep it in.
I have heard some people say, “I never say anything about this.” Yes, you button your coat up, and keep it all quiet. Why, if the living water were really there it would surely burst forth, and out it would come.
This poor defiled creature goes back a changed woman. She is no sooner inside the city than her voice is lifted up, “Come, see a man which, told me all things that ever I did.” That was a magnificent testimony.
Now the disciples come, and they are surprised that the Lord is talking with her and also with the Samaritans who came out to Him. He tells His disciples to lift up their eyes. My brethren, lift up your eyes today. The fields are white to the harvest. What is wanted today are men and women of this stamp, who can quietly, but sweetly and powerfully, testify of Christ.
Look at the final result of this woman’s testimony. Many of the Samaritans believed on Him. She got a fine lot of converts. There was such an effective testimony of Christ about her.
Truth reveals our guilt. Grace removes it. The cross of Christ is the witness of the love of God. The truth that reveals my guilt tells me also of Christ, Who died on the cross to bear that guilt, and the Holy Ghost is here to tell us that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
I trust your heart will be reached for Christ, if never before. I will not ask you to give it to Him, but I want it captivated by Him. This woman had met someone who knew all about her, and instead of being afraid of Him she delighted in Him. He had filled her heart with peace and joy, so that in the scene of her degradation she becomes a lovely witness for Him, and of the way He can relieve the burdened conscience and fill the empty heart. She had got something that quite satisfied her heart, and she wanted to share it with others.
Then, when the Samaritans heard it, they were so impressed with the simple words, “Told me all things that ever I did,” that they began to troop out of the city and come to Him. When they were come to Him, what then? They believed in Him, and they besought Him to abide with them. They wanted to retain His company, and He abode there two days. Many believed because of her word, and many more believed because of His word.
That is the kind of testimony that I like to see.
Dear friend, have you been an unbeliever up to this hour? What are you going to do now? Will you say, “Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves.” That is it.
She said, “I know that when Massif’s cometh, He will tell us all things.” But when she had learned it was He, she spread the tidings, and others say, “Now we know.” “Now we know.” What? “That this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” Do you know Him as your Saviour? If your heart is stolen like that, dear reader, you will go on your way, and tell others about Him. The living waters will flow out, as you say, “Christ is the Saviour of sinners.” Others will then be led to sing, “Christ is the Saviour for me.” May it indeed be so.
“Saviour of sinners,
Saviour of sinners like me,
Shedding His blood for my ransom,
THIS IS THE SAVIOUR FOR ME.”
W. T. P. W.