-Transcript-
00:37 All right, thank you for joining me. Welcome back to the cafe. I hope you’re having a great day today.
00:42 We are in the book of John and we are on part three of a five-part series on the Samaritan woman at the well and what we can learn and apply to our lives from this scripture. Amen.
00:52 And there’s great teaching from this scripture and from God Himself, from Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, on how we can live.
01:00 And I feel like the Samaritan woman, people kind of fast forward oftentimes to certain aspects of it, go through it in a message, and I get that.
01:10 I’m sure I’ve done that in previous messages. But there’s a lot here if you kind of get into the nitty-gritty.
01:16 And the Lord gave me this five-part message earlier this week and I kind of went through it broadly in our prayer meeting last night. And now we’re just diving a little deeper here.
01:26 And on the first episode we spoke about God’s providence, where He leads, where He guides.
01:33 The second episode we spoke of God’s purpose and how we find purpose in God and what He’ll do with us. And today we’re speaking on God’s mercy.
01:43 And of course all these episodes, our YouTube channel Enduring Promise has those.
01:48 If you can go on YouTube search up Enduring Promise. You can find a playlist of all our KJV Cafe short episodes and 30-minute episodes. You can also go to kjvcafe.com and find it there.
02:00 Or look us up, search us up on social media, and then just click off to the YouTube and you’ll see it there. But what we have here today, we’re talking about mercy. Amen.
02:09 Oh, how merciful God is. How great God is. You know, when I think about God and I read His Word and I study and I preach the congregation and I try to tell others about God and I listen to preaching and I listen to Bible teaching, that theme mercy never goes far away.
02:25 That theme mercy is always central in God’s Word and it should be in our hearts as well because God is merciful. You know, God is a righteous judge.
02:35 And so we, being sinners and misled oftentimes and emotional and living off of emotions often, we can be merciful one day and nasty the next.
02:44 We can be merciful one hour and nasty the next. And maybe if that’s not you, maybe you know somebody who is. Amen.
02:52 And yet God is righteous in all ways so He knows exactly how much we’ve transgressed, how sinful we are, and yet He still has been so long suffering with us.
03:04 You know, I can’t explain it other than to say that we are a lot harder, I think, on others than God is. Yes, He’s perfect and righteous in His judgment on all mankind, but in this life,
03:18 I mean, I’ve heard preachers talk about people that didn’t come to church or didn’t do, weren’t outspoken as a Christian publicly, that they believe that God blessed privately by just them loving God.
03:33 You know, and we’ve had people even in our own congregation for one reason or another that don’t come to church, that can’t make it or that are no longer able or whatever is going on.
03:45 And the idea that for some reason, because they’re not in church, they’re not holy, that God doesn’t love them. You know, I have to always tell them, you have to understand the bounds of God’s mercy is incredible.
03:54 And He does love those. He loves the unlovable. He loves the outcasts.
04:00 He loves everybody. And you know who else He loves? He loves the children. Those that, you know, when I grew up in a broken household, oh man, it was tough.
04:10 It was hard. And as a child in a very messed up house, I assumed a lot of the blame myself. I felt like I had done something wrong.
04:23 And my brother felt the same way, I’m sure. And you know, I think God, He looked down upon me at that time. Oh, tears come to my eyes.
04:27 He looked down upon me at that time in mercy. And He called me to the ministry. And He allowed me to serve Him and earn heavenly rewards that will last forever.
04:35 And I believe maybe partly it was because of my broken estate, my broken household, amen. God loves the children. And He loves those, the fatherless, and the widows, and those, the oppressed.
04:48 He loves those that are going through hardship. And He’s right there with them. And it hurts Him, I believe, as they go through those things.
05:01 I know it does. And we see God’s mercy. And I could just go on for the entire segment here on mercy of God and testify and so forth.
05:07 And maybe I should. I don’t want to quench the spirit. But for time’s sake, we’ll dive in here.
05:11 Maybe I can pull out a few more examples to share with y’all. But John 4:7 here, we’ll pick up. And Jesus is going to Samaria, amen.
05:20 And He gets there. And there come with a woman of Samaria to draw water. And they were at that well there.
05:27 Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. He said to her, Hey, I need some water, right? And to her, there’s this man, this stranger saying, Give me water.
05:33 And verse 8, for His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.
05:37 I think that’s important because it shows it was a personal, a private conversation. I know personally, if I’m around a group, things are kind of a certain way.
05:45 And if I’m around an individual, it can be a lot more intimate in the sense where people will be more likely to open up.
05:51 And I’d be more likely to open up if I’m not facing a public group. So it’s just Him and the woman, as far as we can tell. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him,
05:58 this is verse 9 of John 4, How is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
06:07 Jesus answered and said unto her, and this is a tongue twister here. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
06:21 Okay, so the reason why it’s a tongue twister is because just previously, he’s asking her for water.
06:28 And she says, I can’t believe you’re asking me anything. You’re a Jew, I’m a Samaritan, we don’t really talk. And Jesus answered and said unto her, if you knew who I was, if thou knewest the gift of God, amen,
06:34 Jesus is the true gift of God, and He is the gift of God to all that accept Him, and who it is that saith to thee.
06:43 So he’s saying to her, if you knew that I was God, give me to drink, then wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
06:51 And so what he’s saying is, he’s asking for this earthly thing, and if she knew that he was God, he would have then responded, or she would have responded with, oh, instead of me giving you water that will just go away in a little bit, could you give me that water that never goes away?
07:04 Verse 11, the woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou the living water? The woman clearly is showing that she’s not sure who this person is.
07:22 Maybe she’s testing him, or maybe she clearly doesn’t, she’s just taking him literal.
07:23 Verse 12, art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle. And again, we’ve spoken about this last couple episodes, Jacob is the son of Isaac, right?
07:39 He’s renamed Israel, he’s the patriarch of the twelve tribes, and she’s saying, are you greater than him? And God’s probably laughing up there when this happened, maybe even laughing now, saying, do you know who I am?
07:52 Am I greater than Jacob? I’m God, I created Jacob.
07:57 This is also something he gets into, I believe, with the scribes and Pharisees, and they’re asking him, you know, who are you? How could you say you’re greater than this or that?
08:05 And I think it was, how can you say that you know Abraham, you’re not even fifty? And he says, look, David called me his Lord, and how could I be, you know, related to David as this younger person and still be his Lord?
08:16 And so something similar there. And verse 13, Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.
08:24 Verse 14, 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 into everlasting life.
08:37 And so here we see this amazing comparison to water, that you can imagine the setting, right? That there’s water there in the well, right? And that it was starting with, can I have a drink?
08:50 I have to quench my thirst. I’m thirsty, give me a drink, right? And you understand that idea of being thirsty for something beyond water, thirsty for salvation, thirsty for purpose, thirsty for mercy, thirsty for a life everlasting, thirsty for completion and fulfillment, thirsty for peace in a life full of turmoil, in a world full of turmoil.
09:10 But then he says, the water that he’s going to give shall be in the person that receives it, a well.
09:18 So it’s not just water quenching your thirst, it’s a well. What is a well? That is a ongoing supply, amen.
09:22 That is a storehouse, that is a facility to distribute something, and it’s going to be a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. And you think of these springs that never go dry, these springs.
09:38 There’s some springs in the Bible that you can read about. I was reading about some Old Testament prophets, I believe it was, and I looked up some of the places they were at,
09:47 and there were some of these springs that to this day you can go to these towns in Bible land there, in Israel, you can go to these towns in Palestine and surrounding areas, and you can still see the springs still springing up with water, as in it never ends.
09:59 And here we see that great example, that great picture of quenching our thirst spiritually, but not just now, not just one time, not just for a season, but eternally and forever.
10:10 And that is what’s at stake, and that’s what Jesus is confronting this woman, this sinful woman, with, and we’re all sinners, amen.
10:17 And Jesus is confronting the sinner with this idea that if you know Him, if you understood that He is God, or if you understand that He is God, oh how you have to accept Him.
10:28 And when you accept Him, when you believe He is who He says He is, and He’s a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, when you believe that,
10:37 and when you accept Him, you receive that well of water that is always springing up onto everlasting life. What is everyone’s biggest fear?
10:45 Why is everyone so upset about the coronavirus, or the latest variant, or all these things? Their biggest fear is death.
10:52 You know, what do they want to do in Hollywood? They all want to look young. Why? Because they don’t want to look like they’re dying. They want to play the part of immortal.
10:59 But they can’t be immortal, because in the world, our flesh, we’re born to die, amen.
11:05 We are born dead until we have that second birth, that reborn that reincarnation, that spiritual birth, where we are crucified with Christ, and we are brought up anew, and all old things are passed away, and all things become new.
11:18 And that’s that everlasting life that Jesus is explaining to her. And when we understand how great God is, then we understand what? We understand that His mercy is true, and that He offers this everlasting life as a free gift.
11:32 And He was explaining it to the Samaritan woman. He didn’t say, well if you pay a certain amount, you might get in on this. Hey, if you do X, Y, and Z for me, you might get in on this.
11:41 No, He is simply saying that if you believe, if you knew who I was, right, you would ask me for this, and implying that He would give it to her.
11:50 Verse 15, the woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Again, still taking it literally.
12:00 And verse 16, Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. So now Jesus is bringing this into fold, that He knows who she is. And I believe He’s doing this because she’s asking Him literally, maybe somewhat out of unbelief, just maybe misunderstanding.
12:17 So He’s going to go ahead and prove to her He’s God. Verse 17, the woman answered and said, I have no husband. And then Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband.
12:25 For thou has had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that saidst thou truly. And so He’s predicting or telling her her life there. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
12:39 Obviously she perceives that. She understands that. And so she says, Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
12:48 And so now she’s pointing out the spiritual background of the area, and the difference between the Samaritans and the Jews. Because the Samaritans believed one thing, and for time’s sake I can’t really go into it, but they believed that they had the holy place there, and the Jews believe they had it there.
12:58 Verse 21, Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.
13:10 Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews, but 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.
13:23 And so the Lord Jesus Christ is getting away from a spiritual, oh, it has to be this group of people, or this place, and He’s saying we will worship, the true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth, and He is helping her understand that it is time to be saved.
13:38 Verse 24, God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth, not in the location per se.
13:44 Verse 25, the woman saith unto Him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ.
13:53 When He has come, He will tell us all things. And then He says, great line here, verse 26, Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. So Jesus is explaining He is the Christ, and what a, I can’t imagine the look on her face.
14:04 I wish I could keep going here, but just understand, God is merciful. His free gift of salvation is for all, not just a certain group. Accept Him today, and seek Him with all your heart, and you’ll be richly blessed.
14:12 Thank you for joining me. Take care. God bless. Amen.