THE GOSPEL OF JOHN
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
DR. JIM DIXON
JULY 19, 1987
JOHN 4:1-26
What is my name? I am man’s servant. I am man’s master. I have enabled civilizations to rise and I have caused civilizations to fall. Men have killed for me. Men have died in me. In ancient times, men worshiped me. Today, I’m used in industry, in transportation, and in travel. I am used for power. Three-fourths of the chicken’s body and four-fifths of the potato’s mass consists of me. Two-thirds of your body consists of me. I am the most common substance in the world. I’m in the ground and I’m in the air. I am liquid and I am solid. I am hot and I am cold. I cover 70% of the surface of the Earth. Without me, there can be no life. Man, plants, and animals all depend upon me for their existence. I fill the streams, I fill the lakes, and I fill the oceans. My name, of course, is water. There are 326 million cubic miles of water on the earth. There is a million million gallons of water in each cubic mile. But of course, only 3% of that is fresh water. The average American citizen uses 70 gallons of water a day—that’s what the World Book encyclopedia tells us— and the average person in the world drinks 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime.
When we think of water, we think of the physical compound: two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen. But the Bible tells us that there is a water more crucial, more important to you. That water the Bible calls living water. When the Bible speaks of water, it oftentimes speaks of water symbolically. Sometimes in the Bible water is a symbol for baptism, regeneration, and cleansing. Other times, such as in our passage of scripture for today, water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit Himself. John tells us that Jesus addressed the woman of Samaria at the Well of Jacob and He offered her living water. He offered her the Holy Spirit.
This whole passage of scripture is immersed in the subject of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has just told Nicodemus that he’ll never get into heaven—he’ll never become a member of the family of God—unless he is born of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist has just said, “I baptized with water, but among you stands one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And John the Apostle has just said, “It is not in measure that Jesus Christ gives the Holy Spirit.” And so Jesus Christ offers living water. And in John chapter seven, this living water is specifically identified as the Holy Spirit. This morning I want to speak to you on the subject of living water, the subject of the Holy Spirit.
I have three teachings, and the first teaching is this: living water is necessary for spiritual life. The Holy Spirit is necessary for spiritual life. Unless you have living water within you, unless you have the Holy Spirit living within you, you cannot have spiritual life. Mankind is in desperate need of spiritual life. The Bible tells us that man is a trichotomous being. Actually it’s theologians who say that. The Bible tells us that man is a three-part being. Man is body, man is soul, and man is spirit—soma, psyche, and pneuma. Now your body, your soma, is of course your physical person. But your soul, your psyche, that is the part of you that we sometimes call your will. This is where your volition is centered—where you make choices, where you express your moral autonomy, and where you choose to do the good or the bad. It is your will. But there’s a third part of you and the Bible refers to that as your spirit—your pneuma. And this is the part of you that has a capacity to experience God, to commune with God. The Bible says the Spirit of God communes with our spirit. This is the part of you that can enter into relationship with God. This is the part of you that is able to experience the life of God.
But you see, there’s a problem, the Bible tells us. That problem is this: man’s spirit is dead. It wasn’t always that way; it wasn’t that way in Eden. It wasn’t that way at the dawn of time. But because of the fall and because of sin, man’s spirit is now dead, unable to commune with God or experience God. That’s why the average person walking down the street in all the cities of the world is not sure that God exists (or if he or she is sure that God exists, cannot enter into an experience of God). The average person cannot share the life of God, cannot fellowship with God. But you see, God has offered a solution, and that solution is His Son. This is the plan of God, that if you would believe in His Son Jesus Christ and if you would invite Him to come and be your Lord and your Savior, then in that moment Jesus Christ will give you living water. He will give you the Holy Spirit. He will send the spirit of Christ Himself within you and He will rekindle your spirit. He will bring your spirit to life and you’ll begin to have a capacity to experience God and fellowship with God.
In 1875 in Hannibal, Missouri, a man named Jim Cash was born. Jim was born to a very poor family. His father was a Baptist minister. Jim often heard his father speak of God. Jim didn’t understand. He respected his father but he didn’t understand. Jim was extremely poor. He was one of 12 children and had very little to eat. Around the time of the turn of the century, shortly before Jim Cash came here to Denver, he took a job at Joslin’s Dry Goods Store. He made $6 a week. That was not a whole lot of cash for Jim Cash, but he resolved that he was going to make a lot of money. In fact, he resolved that he was going to make $100,000. You see, within Jim Cash there was a void, an emptiness. Something was missing deep inside of him and he knew it. But he thought, “If I can just make $100,000, everything’s going to be okay. That will fill the void. That will give me a life.”
Well, a job opportunity came up in Cramer, Wyoming. He became co-owner of a little store up there. Time passed. Months went by. Years went by. Jim began to establish new stores and he staffed them with personnel that he had trained. It wasn’t too long before Jim was worth $100,000. But you see, the emptiness was still there. Deep within him, the deadness was still there. Well, he thought to himself, “If I could just make a million dollars, it’ll all be okay. I just don’t have enough money.” So he set forth to make a million dollars and he began to establish stores all over. By 1927, Jim Cash had 750 stores in 45 states and he was worth a million dollars many times over. But there was still the void, the emptiness, the absence of life, and he knew it. Jim thought to himself, “Well, maybe I’m not living right. Maybe I need to live more ethically. My behavior needs to be better.” He’d always believed in the teachings of his father. He had practiced the Judeo-Christian value systems, but he thought, “Maybe I need to redouble my effort.” So he strived to live a good life daily. And every Sunday he went to church. But still there was the void.
Then in 1929 there came the great stock market crash. Jim Cash lost more than $9,000,000—a lot of money in 1929 and not bad today. He was destitute. He lost almost everything. It was gone. And he thought, “How could things get worse?” But they did get worse, because Jim’s wife died. He loved her. But she came down with tuberculosis and Jim couldn’t help her. He watched her die slowly and he held her in his arms and she left this world. Jim was devastated and he was bitter. He hated God and he hated men. It seemed like life had turned on him. And what was life all about, anyway? You work hard, you make a living, you make money, you lose money, you make some more, you watch people die, and then you die. What’s it all about?
One day Jim went to a church service, as he had done many times before, and he heard the gospel. This wasn’t the first time Jim had heard the gospel. He’d heard that message many times before. But this time he really heard the gospel. The Holy Spirit was drawing him. And so Jim asked Jesus Christ to come and be the Lord and Savior of his life. He said, “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I want to live for You.” He became aware that all of his values—all of his goodness—was self-righteousness. He realized that he had truly lived for money and he repented and invited Christ to be Lord and Savior. In that moment, Jesus Christ sent living water into him. In that moment, Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit into him. Jim’s spirit was rekindled and came to life. Jim was born of the Spirit and he became a Christian truly, a child of God.
In the subsequent years, Jim had many ups and downs but he never had the void again, because he had living water. He retired in 1946 at the age of 71. When he retired he had 1,612 stores, but that wasn’t the source of his joy. The source of his joy was that living water. He died in 1971 at the age of 96, but he didn’t really die, because he’s alive today. He’s alive today because of that living water which gives eternal life. And of course, today all of you have heard of Jim. His full name was James Cash Penney, and there are thousands of stores all over this country named JC Penney.
Each and every one of us needs to experience exactly what JC Penney experienced. We all need living water. If we would find spiritual life, we need the Holy Spirit. It’s only in that moment when you embrace Jesus Christ as Lord that He sends His Holy Spirit into your spirit. We’re born of the Spirit. We become children of God and we receive eternal life. In John chapter seven, Jesus said, “If anyone believes in Me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Jesus said, “The water which I have to give shall become within you a well of water springing up to eternal life.” This living water is the only source of spiritual life, the only source of eternal life.
But there’s a second teaching concerning living water this morning and that teaching is this: living water is necessary to quench spiritual thirst. It’s necessary to provide spiritual life and it’s necessary to quench spiritual thirst. Now here is a distinction. You see, it’s possible for you to be a Christian, possible for you to have had your spirit rekindled by the Holy Spirit, to have living water within you. You’ve received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You found spiritual life. And yet it’s still possible, even normal, for you to have spiritual thirst. It’s normal for a Christian to experience spiritual thirst because sometimes, as Christians, our spirits become dehydrated spiritually. Our spirits become arid and dry like a desert, and we need living water daily. Jesus stood before the multitude and He said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come unto Me and drink.” Those words are recorded in John chapter seven. We really only understand the meaning of those words when we look at the context, because it was in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus Christ said those words, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come unto Me and drink.”
The Feast of Tabernacles was the third of the great Jewish feasts. The first was Passover, the second Pentecost, and the third was the Feast of Tabernacles (sometimes called the Feast of Booths and sometimes called the Feast of Ingathering). Many things were celebrated during the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a fall festival. All Jewish men were required to come and pay homage to God at the Jerusalem sanctuary. So in Jerusalem, in the Holy City, there were many pilgrims at that time. Many things were celebrated. They put up little tents or booths in and about the city of Jerusalem to commemorate their wilderness wanderings for 40 years when they lived in hardship in the wilderness. They thanked God for the homes they now had. They also celebrated God’s provision of physical food in the wilderness, manna from heaven. And they celebrated God’s provision of physical drink from the supernatural rock which Moses struck. And a great part of the festival was given to a celebration of God’s provision of physical water.
The Jewish priest would take a gold bowl which held two pints and he would go down to the pool of Siloam and he would fill that gold bowl with water. And then he’d come back through the Water Gate. And as he came through the Water Gate all the multitudes would shout in unison the words of Isaiah 12:3: “With joy shall we drink from the fountain of the waters of salvation!” And then the Jewish priest would bring the water up towards the temple, and he would take the water to the altar of God and he would pour that water out in thanksgiving to God. And as he poured the water out, the Levite choir would sing the Hallel (Psalm 113 through 118) accompanied by flutes. And whenever the choir sang the words, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord,” all the masses of people would take their palm branches and wave them towards the Jerusalem temple, towards the altar of God where the water was being poured out. And it was in that context that Jesus Christ stood before the people and He said, “If anyone thirsts, let them come unto Me and drink.” There was a certain irony about the situation. The people were thanking God for their physical water—for His provision of physical water in the wilderness and for His ample provision of physical water in the promised land. And yet they had ignored the spiritual water that was now about them in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It seems to me that Christians are like that today. So often we’re concerned with physical things. All of our refrigerators are filled with things to drink. If you’re thirsty, you don’t wait a second. You don’t get very thirsty before you go and get something to drink. But spiritually, sometimes our souls and spirits thirst and we just ignore it. And so Jesus Christ offers living water and He would have us to understand that we can partake of this living water every day (and we need to). You see, when you go to the word of God and you read it daily, Jesus Christ actually has the power to release the Holy Spirit within you—to rekindle anew the Holy Spirit within you as you read this book—and to feed and quench the thirst of your soul and spirit. As you pray every day, Jesus Christ has the power to stir that living water within you. When we fellowship regularly with our brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus Christ actually has the power to use them to impart a new experience of the Holy Spirit within us.
In the scriptures we are told that we are actually to pray explicitly for this living water every day. Jesus Christ said, “If you, being earthly fathers, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to all who ask Him?” When was the last time you asked for a greater measure of the Holy Spirit’s ministry within your heart? When was the last time you asked for that living water to quench the thirst of the soul?
You see, a lot of Christians are kind of like the resurrection plant. The resurrection plant can be found in certain arid regions of North America and also in the Near East. It’s a very strange plant. The Rose of Jericho is an example of the resurrection plant. When it’s in a region where there’s ample water, the resurrection plant sends its roots into the earth. The Rose of Jericho does that, and when the Rose of Jericho blossoms it has leaves that look like ferns. It’s beautiful and green. But when there’s an absence of water, the Rose of Jericho or any resurrection plant does a very strange thing. It pulls up its roots from the earth and it becomes like a dry ball and its branches become barren and brown. All the green leaves the plant and it looks as though it is dead, but it’s not dead. It’s in a type of hibernation and it begins to look like a dead and uprooted tumbleweed. And the wind comes over the arid plains and parched land of the Mediterranean and the resurrection plant just blows across the landscapes. It just blows across the desert. And it’ll do this for days and weeks and months and sometimes for years, two or three years. Then it’ll come to a place where there’s water again. And the resurrection plant will then send its roots back into the earth and drink and it will become green again. It will come to life again and its branches will become like ferns again. A lot of Christians are kind of like that, and it’s tragic. They don’t drink often enough. They rarely drink of the Holy Spirit and they become uprooted and they’re blown with a wind and they look as though they were dead, brown and barren. It doesn’t need to be like that.
Some Christians are kind of like dromedaries—one-hump camels. They can hike 200 miles without water. They go seven days without water. They only need water once every seven days. A lot of Christians are like that. Once every seven days they come to church. They think that’s all they need. And they wonder why their lives are like a desert during the week. But you see, the Lord is saying to us, “Come unto Me, all who thirst, and I will give you drink.”
Psalms 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. For his delight is on the law of the Lord and on His law, on His word, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by rivers of living water. It brings forth its fruit in its season, and in all that he does he prospers.” You see, that’s what God wants for you. That’s what God wants for me, but it is only possible through the Holy Spirit. Jesus says to the thirsty, “I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life.” The Holy Spirit is the living water necessary for spiritual life, necessary to quench spiritual thirst.
Finally, this living water is necessary for true worship. If you would truly worship God, it is only possible through the Holy Spirit. Throughout history, Christians of many times misunderstood the nature of true worship. Sometimes Christians have resorted to strange styles of worship. The first few centuries of Christendom were like that. Saint Septimius bound himself in chains for 10 years, crawling around on his hands and knees. Vasarian refused to lie down while sleeping. For 40 years he slept, sitting up and standing up. Macarius sat naked in a swamp for six months until his body was so riddled with mosquito bites that he looked like he had leprosy. St. Marian lived for 11 years in a hollowed out tree trunk. Many Christians in the first few centuries lived by their own will—not under compulsion—in dens and caves and dry wells and empty tombs (I suppose it’s better to live in an empty tomb than an occupied one). Simeon the Stylite of Syria sat on top of various pillars for 37 years, coming down only to sleep. He died in the year AD 460. David the Stylite of Constantinople sat on the same pillar for 33 years. He died in 494 AD. And why did these people do these strange things? They did these things because, somehow, they thought that in the doing of them they were expressing consecration, devotion, and worship towards God.
In the time of Christ, there were a lot of people who thought that worship was expressed primarily through sacrifice. And there were also a lot of people who were hung up not only on the mode of worship but the place of worship. They thought the key to worship was not so much how you did it but where you did it. That’s why the woman of Samaria said to Jesus, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” And you see, Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will men worship the Father. The hour is coming and now is here when all true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For such people the Father seeks to worship Him. God is spirit and all who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” You see, without the Holy Spirit there is no worship. Without living water, there can be no true worship.
Some people like to worship through the raising of hands, and that’s fine. Some people like to worship with their eyes closed. Some like to fall on their knees and prostrate themselves before God. Some like to worship through singing. Some like to worship through dancing. Some like to worship through ecstasy and through the uttering of ecstatic speech. Some like to worship through services of formal liturgy. Some like to worship in services laden with Latin. Some like to worship through responsive readings or through the recitation of historical Christian creeds. Some like to worship primarily through partaking of the Eucharist. But all these things are externals. All these things are outward expressions, and true worship is in the heart. If it’s not taking place in the heart it doesn’t matter what the externals are. That’s why Jesus said, “You honor Me with your lips, but your hearts are far from Me and your worship is in vain.”
It’s not possible for a non-Christian to worship God. The non-Christian’s spirit is dead. Even for many Christians, it’s not possible to worship God because their souls and spirits are so dehydrated. When they come to worship, they can only take; they have nothing to give God. You see, true worship is an overflowing of the Holy Spirit within your spirit in praise, adoration, consecration, and thanksgiving. That choice is really ours, because the Holy Spirit is available. But we must come daily to that fountain of living water. God is Spirit. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. There is no spiritual life, no eternal life, without the Holy Spirit to quench the thirst of the soul. Living water is the only source of true worship pleasing to Him. Let’s close in a word of prayer.
If there’s anyone here who’s never received living water within; anyone here who’s never had their spirit rekindled by the Holy Spirit; anyone who’s never invited Jesus Christ to come and be Lord and Savior; if you feel led this morning, I would ask you to pray this prayer with me: “Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Fill me with living water. Take away the emptiness and fill it with Yourself. Send Your Holy Spirit within me. Give me life. Be my Lord and be my Savior. Forgive me of my sin. I want to live for You.” If you are a Christian, I would invite you to pray this prayer with me: “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Fill me and use me. Mold me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.” We pray these things, Lord Jesus, in Your name. Amen.