(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

There in John chapter four and verse number 10, Jesus answered and said unto her, 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. The title for the sermon tonight is Living Water. Jesus Christ is promising this lady, if you just ask for it, then I'll give you living water. Praise God, of course he's referring to salvation. But let's start there in verse number one. Now you may recall John chapter three, that Jesus Christ, do you remember that Jesus Christ was baptizing in Judea? And then we saw that John the Baptist, he actually moved location to the region of Samaria. Now I want to just quickly bring to your mind, if you can just mentally understand the map at this time when Jesus Christ walked the earth. So when you've got southern, I guess what you'd call southern Israel, you know, or where the Jews were located, or where the capital city of Jerusalem was located, that was in the region of Judea, okay? And then when you travel further north, you get into the region of Samaria. That's where you have this, you know, we're gonna look at the Samaritan woman in this chapter. And then when you go further north of Samaria, is the region of Galilee. And so all of these things are kind of important for you to sort of picture your mind around. And so when we start there in John chapter four verse number one, it says, when therefore the Lord, so Jesus Christ, knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John. That's what we read about in John chapter three. Remember the Pharisees went to John again, just proving once again, they were the Pharisees. They weren't well-meaning. They were trying to cause division. They were trying to cause John to envy the ministry of Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ knew, he found out that these Pharisees were bothering John. It says here, what does he do? It says in verse number two though, Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples. He left Judea and departed again into Galilee. So it's quite interesting. He knows that the Pharisees had gone to bother John. So it says, look, they're gonna come and bother me now. So it's like, let's get out of here. Let's leave Judea. He doesn't want to deal with the Pharisees. Jesus Christ is not interested in conflict and arguing these religious leaders. He's interested in getting people saved. That's what he's, it's not there. Okay, well the Pharisees are making their way here. Let's just get out of here. He tarried a while at Judea. He was doing his ministry. The Pharisees were distracted by John the Baptist, but now that he knows, all right, they're on the way back. Let's go to Galilee. So he's in Judea. And then you have Samaria, where John the Baptist is doing baptism, and then you've got Galilee. So Jesus Christ is making a way to Galilee, right? But in order to go to Galilee, he's got to pass through what? Through Samaria, okay? So that makes sense to you, hopefully, in that sense. And now, verse number four, it says, and he must, I love verse number four, and he must, needs, go through Samaria, okay? Not only because it's geologically, geographically, sorry, located through Samaria, but he's got a purpose. He must go through Samaria. He must go to the area of the Samaritans. And we know that the Samaritans, the Jews, they did not like each other, okay? And I love this verse so much. I love this story so much. Because if you can keep your finger there, and come with me to Matthew chapter 10. Come with me to Matthew chapter 10 in verse number five. Matthew chapter 10, verse number five. There is a strange teaching out there, even within the Baptist world, that Jesus Christ did not come for the Gentiles. Or that Jesus Christ did not come for the Samaritans. That Jesus Christ, his only desire, his only purpose, his only focus was the Jews. And that the Gentiles, you're like plan B. You're lucky that the Jews rejected Christ, so now he cares about the Gentiles. I wanna show you that is not the case. Jesus Christ, yes, he did come for the Jews. But he also came to preach to the Samaritans. He came to preach to the Gentiles. He offered salvation to anybody that would hear him, anybody that would believe on him. And I want to show you this, because he must needs go through Samaria. He must go there. There's a woman at the well that needs to get saved, okay? And then they look at Matthew chapter 10, and people take this passage here. Matthew chapter 10, verse number five. These 12, Jesus went, sent forth and commanded them, saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles. Oh, may say Jesus don't care for the Gentiles, they'll say. And into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not. Don't go to the Gentiles, don't go to Samaritans. Oh, you see, Jesus Christ only cared for the Jews. Have you heard that before? I've heard that before, okay? And what's funny about it is in John chapter four, we're recovering, he must needs go through Samaria. But here in Matthew chapter 10, he's telling himself, look, don't go to the Gentiles, don't go to Samaritans, enter ye not, verse number six, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And some will say, those that are hyper dispensational, they'll say, see, Jesus only cares for the Jews. The kingdom of heaven is only for the Jews. But because the Jews rejected Christ, the Gentiles, instead of the kingdom of heaven, you get the kingdom of God. Separate kingdoms for different people. Some of you guys know what I'm talking about, okay? And they'll take this passage, see? You know, Jesus only cared for the Jews. Now, I'm gonna quickly read to you another passage that you're very familiar with. What's the answer to this? Is it a contradiction? Jesus told his disciples, go only to the Jews, to the lost house of Israel. Don't go to the Samaritans, don't go to the Gentiles, but then Jesus Christ must needs go through Samaria. And then we see in this chapter that he gets many Samaritans saved. In fact, you probably don't even realize this, but he gets many Gentiles saved, okay? Besides the Samaritans in this chapter, but you probably don't realize this just yet, okay? Romans 1 16, these are the words of Paul. It says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. You see, Paul's ministry at this point in time, as he would go into cities and places, he would go and find the Jews first. But then he says, it's not just the Jews though, right? He goes, even also to the Greek, even to the Gentiles, because his power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Not just to the Jews that believe, the Gentiles that believe, it's open to all. But you know, sometimes ministries must have a priority. Ministries must have a focus. And at this time, when Jesus Christ sends his disciples out, the priority were the Jews. The priority were the lost house of Israel. They had to go there first, but then also unto the Greeks, also unto the Samaritans, also unto the Gentiles. You know, I've got a job, you guys know now, besides pastoring, I've got a job and I'm cleaning, I might have to go to five locations, let's say, all right? And I've got this app on my phone that tells me, okay, I've got to go, so this is the first location. You've got to go to this location first. All right, does that mean when my, you know, and then I've got these other four locations, but that's the one that I've got to go to first. That means I don't have to go to location two, three, four, and five. But that's how some Christians read this passage. They say first means that's all they care about. No, I've got to go there first, but then when I'm done with the first, then I've got to go to the second and the third and the fourth and fifth. Listen, location number five is not less important to location number one, okay? It's just that there's a priority, there's a focus. Reverend, our priority, our focus, our attention is to the Sunshine Coast first, but also to Caboolture, also Gympie, also Brisbane, also Sydney, also Melbourne, also whatever. Wherever God allows us to go and to preach the gospel and do a ministry through this church, we'll go there also. But our ministry first is on the Sunshine Coast. Does that mean people in Melbourne are not important? We don't care about people in Melbourne getting saved? No, they're so important that we did a missions trip, all right, just last year, and many of us from this church and down at Sydney went to that to preach the gospel to those that were elsewhere, because they're important. Those souls are important to the Lord. Salvation is open to all that would believe on him. But we all have someone with that we need to go first, to Jerusalem, and then Samaria, and then to the outermost part of the world, Jesus Christ said, before he ascended up to heaven. But I love verse number four, he must need to go through Samaria, he must go. This is important for Jesus Christ. Okay, verse number five, why is it so important? Then cometh he to a city of Samaria. Oh, didn't he say not to go to the city of Samaritans? No, now he can, now at this point of his ministry, he's going to Samaria, okay? Which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being weary with his journey, sat thus on the well, and it was about the sixth hour. Even though Jesus Christ, of course, is God Almighty, we see that Jesus Christ became weary in his journey. He got tired. Now it shows us the humanity of Jesus Christ. And so he sits by the well. Of course, his desire and water right there, but he's waiting for a very divine appointment with the Samaritan woman that comes to the well. Verse number seven, there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. And she's tired. It's a long journey, he's been walking, he's on foot. He goes, I need to drink, give me something to drink. And of course, yes, he's thirsty, physically speaking, but he's opening the doors to give her the gospel. Right, he's starting an interaction, he's starting a conversation, he's wanting for her to be open to hear the words that he has to say. And the reason he says this in verse number eight, for his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat. I thought the disciples were not allowed to go to the city of the Samaritans. No, sometimes in the ministry, they were to focus on the Jews, this time in the ministry, Jesus is focused on the Samaritans. They've gone into the city to buy some food, they're hungry, it's been a long journey, but Jesus Christ now is alone at the well with this woman. Verse number nine, then sayeth the woman of Samaria unto him. How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? Not that she has a problem with Jesus asking, but she says, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. She goes, you Jews are racist. You guys don't like us, because we're Samaritans. How is it that you're asking of me? You see, the woman here is lumping Jesus Christ with all the other Jews, right? The other Jews that fuel the special people, they're more important than the Samaritans, and they look down at the Samaritans, and she's lumping Jesus Christ with the group there. That's why she said, like she doesn't have a problem doing it. She said, but you guys don't have any dealings with us. How is it that you're asking of me, right? Verse number 10, Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God. So you can see this isn't just about drinking water. Jesus Christ is now opening up the gospel message, the gift. Gifts are free. You know, I always wanna say that gifts are free. Gifts don't require the effort of the receiver. It is paid for by the giver, isn't it? And all you need to do is either you have a choice, right? To receive a gift or to reject the gift. But the gift has been paid for. Gifts are free. If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. So that's where we get the title from, living water. Jesus Christ is opening living water unto us. He said, look, if you just knew the gift, if you knew that it was free, if you knew it was a gift, if you knew who was speaking to you, the Christ, the Savior of the world, you would ask of me this living water. I mean, he doesn't mention that he's the Christ just yet, okay, because just if you knew who I was. And when we get to verse number 11, you'll see that the woman still doesn't understand this is about spiritual things. She still thinks it's about earthly things, okay? Because Jesus Christ was finished saying, if you knew who I was, you would have asked of me, all right? So obviously Jesus Christ is saying, I'm someone important. Like if you knew who I was, you would ask of me this water. Then she says in response, verse number 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? Like she doesn't get it. She goes, I mean, okay, so you're offering me water, but you don't even have a way to get the water. She doesn't get it. Obviously Jesus Christ has started spiritual teaching, but she hasn't fully understood. She's still on the carnal earthly illustration of the well. But what I really like about obviously what has transpired, especially if we can just go back to verse number 10, we see, Jesus Christ basically in a very quick nutshell explains what salvation is, okay? If thou knewest the gift of God. So if you know that salvation is a gift, if you know that it's free, it's already been paid for. Of course, it's been paid for by the blood of Christ. And who it is that saith unto thee, if you recognize Jesus Christ as the savior of the world, the lamb that taketh away the sin of the world, amen, thou would have given me to drink, thou would have avast of me. Okay, so it requires, Lord, please give it to me, and ask in, and he would have given thee living water. That's it. You understand it's a gift. You know who wants to give it to you, you know who Christ is, all right? You, Lord, give it to me. I want this living water. I mean, just in a nutshell, right? It's symbolically using the will, explaining to her the gospel there. And again, you know, she thinks that, oh, like Jesus Christ is speaking, like talking himself up a little bit here, because then she says in verse number 12, she's a little bit confused. She goes, are thou greater than our father, Jacob? Are you greater than Jacob, like the Old Testament saints? Like, who are you to say, if you knew who I was? Are you greater than our father, Jacob? All right, and what's funny about that, is that Jacob and Jesus Christ had a wrestle match in the Old Testament, okay? And you know, are you greater than our father, Jacob, which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle? Verse number 13, this is how it responds. Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. You know, it's quite interesting, and this is a really good example of preaching the gospel. You're trying to give someone spiritual truths, and then someone gets sidetracked. Are you greater than Jacob? You know, Jacob was the one that drew this water and fed his animals and his family from this water. Like, she's getting off topic, right? And sometimes when you give the gospel, the person you're giving the gospel to is getting off topic, okay? Jesus Christ does not get distracted. He does not go off topic. He just brings it back to the point, all right? He says there in verse number 13, Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. So he's saying, look, this earthly water from this well, even though it's Jacob's well, is not gonna satisfy you all the time, okay? You're gonna have to draw from this water again and again every time you're thirsty. But then he says in verse number 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. Now the penny drops. Now she understands this is about spiritual things. Because Jesus Christ says, look, if you drink of my water, okay, this water gives you everlasting life, you'll never thirst again. The gift of living water is everlasting life. That's why eternal security once again is so important. Once you have believed on Christ, you'll never thirst again. You'll never be trying, oh, am I really, really saved? Maybe salvation is really my works. Like if you've trusted Christ, you'll never thirst again. You understand it's been paid for, it's done. It's a free gift that these waters keep running within me. I'm never thirsty again. The penny drops now. She realizes this is about spiritual things. Verse number 15, the woman saith unto him, sir, give me this water. Like before she was like, who are you? Then she's like, give me this water. That I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. See, it's starting to click. I want this water. Okay, and look, this water, you'll never thirst again. And notice what she says. She goes, that I thirst not. Okay, so this water that Jesus Christ is giving will fully satisfy. Okay, it gives you full satisfaction. You're never looking for salvation ever again once you understand what Christ has done for you. Then she goes, neither come hither to draw. Because the water that I drink above this wall, I have to constantly go and draw. I have to go again and draw. I have to go again and draw. And this is a picture of works salvation. You gotta keep working at it. Keep turning from your sins. Keep living the holy life. Keep striving to keep the commandments. It never satisfies. You'll have to keep going and working and working and you'll be thirsty and you'll be thirsty and thirsty. It never satisfies. She goes, I want to stop drawing water. I want to stop working for my salvation. Jesus Christ says, you don't have to work. I'll do the work. I'll give you the water. It's free. You just have to ask of me. It's fully paid for. It'll fully satisfy. It's a done deal. And it gives you everlasting life. Now, what does Jesus Christ say in verse number 16? Jesus saith unto her, go, call thy husband and come hither. Hey, go call your husband, come and we'll see you soon why. I mean, it's not clearly laid out, but I believe it's pretty straightforward. Verse number 17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. So at this point in time, she's not married. Jesus saith unto her, thou hast well said, I have no husband. And she goes, actually, you're telling the truth. Yeah, you're not married. Then he says this, for thou has had five husbands. She'd been married five times. You might say, well, maybe she was a righteous woman and they all passed away. She was widowed and she got remarried. No. Okay, because then he says, okay. Then he says, and he whom thou hast is not thy husband. The man you're living with now is not even your husband. This is an adulterous woman. Okay, she's got a married, divorced, remarried, divorced, remarried, divorced. And the man that she's living with, maybe she decided, you know what? Marriage doesn't work for me. I'll just live with this guy. Okay, she's an adulterous woman. But he must needs go through some area. Jesus Christ is showing her her sin. You're a sinner. You're an adulterous woman. Okay, and he's also showing that he knows. He knows better life. You know, he's more than just a man. Okay, he's going to reveal himself soon to be the Christ. Okay, the savior of the world. All right. And you would say, well, yeah, he's definitely showing her her sin there that she's adulterous. And I guess now Jesus Christ is going to tell her, well, in order for you to drink of that water, you must repent of your adultery. Is that what you have to do? I mean, surely now is the time if salvation was a repenting of sins. Surely this is the perfect time to tell her how you've got to leave that man that you're living with. You've got to turn from all your sins and now you can have the living water. Surely that's the perfect time. Instead of saying, get rid of your husband or your man you're living with and turn from your sins, what did he say? In verse 16, Jesus said, go call thy husband and come hither. Hey, actually, why don't you bring that man along so he can hear what I have to say as well? Why don't we get him saved as well? Why don't we offer him everlasting water as well? Now, should she turn from adultery? Of course she should, but that's not how you get saved. That's not what gives you everlasting life. You know, trying to pursue a salvation of turning from sins will cause you to thirst again and again and again because we sin every day. You'll sin again and you'll sin again and you'll sin again and if repenting of sin was a way of salvation, you'll thirst and thirst and thirst and thirst because you never get to the end of it. Jesus Christ offers us water we will never thirst again. It's a gift if you just ask of him. Verse number 19, the woman saith unto him, sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. So she goes, wow, how did you know about that about my life? You must be a prophet, you must know. You know, you must be used, being used by God. Verse number 20, and look, this woman, yes, she's starting to understand this spiritual nature. She wants this water, but she's still carnal. She doesn't get it, she doesn't fully understand everything. She's still very carnal and in the carnal thinking, she says in verse number 20, our fathers, or her forefathers, worshiped in this mountain and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. She says to Jesus, ye say, remember ye is plural. Okay, like Jesus never said these words. Jesus never said, oh, the place to worship God is in Jerusalem. When she says and ye say, again, she's just lumping Jesus with all the Jews. Like all the Jews are saying, hey, Judea is the right place, Jerusalem. If you want to worship God, you must come to Jerusalem. And she goes, but look, I want to worship God in the mountains because my forefathers worshiped God in the mountains. So she's thinking very carnally, and a lot of people think carnally. Like the Roman Catholics think the most holy place to go is the Vatican, okay? A lot of people believe the most holy place, even amongst Christians, especially amongst the Jews, is to go to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. There's this carnal thinking. You know, the Muslims, they like to go to that box, what's it called? Mecca, right? They do pilgrimages to Mecca and they think there's this physical location. This is where we worship God. You know, the Hindus, they like to go to that dirty river, the Ganges, I think it's called. You know, and they think that, you know, if we just bathe ourselves in that water, you know, we're closer to God or whatever God they worship. You know, it's carnal thinking. It's sort of this, you've got to be at this right location. You know, there's this sort of thing to be right with God. Jesus Christ, how does he answer? Sorry, what am I up to, verse number 21? Oh yeah, verse number 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. Jesus Christ is just putting aside all this physical location idea that, you know, to be right with God, you've got to go here, you've got to go there. You know, because look, believe me, the hour comes when this is irrelevant, okay? Now this hour that's coming, this is not the bringing in of the New Testament. This is a personal thing for her. I'll explain to you in a minute. In verse number 22, like she's saying, we worship in the mountains, remember? Our Father's worship in the mountains. He says, ye worship, verse number 22, ye worship ye know not what. I know you're saying you worship the Father, but you don't even know what you're worshiping because she's not saved, okay? We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. He goes, look, we know about salvation, okay? Salvation, again, to the Jews, but look, he's preaching to the Samaritan woman, okay? Again, to the Jews first, and also to the Greeks, okay? But he's saying, look, the Jews, you know, the scriptures that have been given to us, you know, this points to salvation. But is Jesus Christ highlighting Jerusalem? Is Jesus Christ saying, oh, salvation is, so in order to get saved, you've got to go to Jerusalem to worship the Father. That's not what he's saying, because then he says in verse number 23, but the hour cometh, so the hour is coming, but then he says, and now is. So this hour is coming, but now is. So this is not talking about a time of history, okay? This is talking about her. She's not saved. She's about to be saved. It comes, and now is. Jesus Christ knows, like, it's gonna happen, okay? When the true worshipers, who are the true worshipers? Saved people, okay? She's unsaved. She's worshiping the mountains. You don't know what you're worshiping, okay? When the Jews are praying at that wailing wall, and they say they're praying and worshiping God, they don't know what they're worshiping. They're not worshiping God, okay? But the hour cometh, and now is. When the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So Jesus Christ's saying, look, it's not about a physical location. Rather, it's a spiritual location of truth. When you've understood the truth, now you can worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The hour cometh. He's saying to her, you're about to get saved. You're about to be one of these true worshipers. Well, it's not about Jerusalem or the mountains. You can worship Him anywhere you go, because we worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Okay, so she's gotta get the right spirit. She's gotta accept the truth, okay? Right? The hour cometh, and now is. Jesus Christ knows it's about to happen for her, okay? And then it says there in verse number 25. The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. She's heard about the Christ. When He is come, He will tell us all things. Like, she's interested. She wants to know. She wants to be a true worshiper. And she goes, you know, I've heard that Christ is coming, and He's gonna tell us all these things. So she's looking forward to Christ. Jesus Christ must needs go to Samaria. He knows there's a Samaritan woman looking for Christ, wanting to know how to be saved, wanting to know how to be a true worshiper. She's trying to figure all of this out, okay? And what does Jesus Christ say to her in verse number 26? Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. He goes, I'm the Messiah, I'm the Christ. I'm the one offering you the gift of salvation. If you knew who I was, He said earlier, now He said, look, this is who I am. I'm the Messiah, I'm the Christ. Okay? Now, this is, I believe this is the point that she gets saved, okay? When she recognizes, wow, this is Him, this is the one. You know, the Messiah, He's the one that's come to offer me the free gift of eternal life. You know, once I receive this gift, I'll never thirst again. I never have to go and draw my own water. I don't have to go and get myself saved. I just have to accept, ask Jesus Christ, give me that gift, and He'll give it to me. This is, I believe, the point where everything clicks to her, when she understands who is speaking to her, the Christ, the Messiah. And as we keep going through this chapter, what that means for the people in Temeria is that this is the Savior of the world. This is my Savior. He's the one that's going to give me everlasting life. You shouldn't see that this is, as we keep going through this chapter, that's what they understand Christ to be. Verse number 27. And upon this came the disciples. So, remember, they went shopping, they went to get some meat, they get some food, right? And they finally make it, like, at this point of conversation. They don't say anything, but it says here, and marveled that He talked with a woman. They're like, why is He talking to her? Like, she's a Samaritan. You know, she's a woman. Why is He wasting time with this one person? Like, we're going to Galilee, we've got things to do. We've got to eat Jesus, right? It says there, yet no man said, what seekest thou, or why talkest thou with her? So, they're too timid to open their mouths and ask the question, but they're wondering, why is He talking to her, you know? Verse number 28. The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city, and said to the men, come, see a man who just told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? So, what is she doing? She goes in the city and starts preaching Christ. Come, you know, come and find out if it's man. And we'll soon see that, she's not just telling people, go and listen to Christ. In fact, she's actually preaching the gospel. She's actually getting men saved. We'll soon see this as we keep going through the chapter. Okay, she's saying, look, this is the Christ. This is the one we've been waiting for. This is the Savior, He's offered me eternal life. If we just believe on Him. And they're like, you know, and I guess if they don't believe her, she goes, look, you know, come and see a man tell me all things that ever I did is not this, the Christ. You go and find out yourself then. You go and find out is this not the Christ, okay? And then it says in verse number 30, and they went out of the city and came unto Him. So all of a sudden, Jesus Christ is by Himself originally with the woman at the well, and now all the men, and probably other people, of course, are making their way to Jesus Christ. They're all gonna go and find out, there's this mass group of people leaving the city and making their way to the well, okay? So you got Jesus Christ at the well with His disciples. You've got this mass of people making their way from the testimony of the woman. Just wanna get you that thinking in your mind what's happening here. Verse number 31, and again, like I said, it may not seem like it just yet, but she's been a successful soul winner. She's gotten souls saved. And I think it's amazing that this adulterous woman, okay, who is in sin, and she probably got a boyfriend saved, right? She's preaching the gospel to the men. Literally, she doesn't know all that much except what salvation is, and she's already getting souls saved. Isn't that amazing? That preaching the gospel is not this complicated thing. Look, you can improve your presentation. You can become a better soul winner. You can practice and get a plan together, right, and gain experience and gain knowledge. But really, to be a soul winner, all you have to do is be saved, and on day number one, you can tell someone else how you got saved. That's being a gospel preacher. Amazing. And it's a woman, an adulterous woman. If an adulterous woman can go and preach the gospel, so can you. All of us can. And we've been saved longer than a few hours, haven't we, like this woman has, and she's reading people to the Christ. Amazing. Anyway, the disciples are a little bit, I don't know. The disciples are good men. They love Jesus Christ. They want to see souls saved, I'm sure, but their mindset is not there right now. Their mindset is let's eat, all right. We've got a journey to go to Galilee, all right. They're not thinking about the Samaritans. They're not thinking that these people need to get saved, but you've got this mass of people coming out of the city on their way to Christ, okay. And it says in verse number 31, in the mean while the disciples pray, so in the mean. So while these people are making their way to Christ, it says his disciples prayed him, saying, master, eat. All right, Jesus, we've got the food, come and eat. And verse number 32, and he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. He goes, yeah, it is time to eat, but it's not time to eat this food. I've got other food to eat that you don't know about. They don't get it. It's not processed in their mind why this stop in Samaria was so important, okay. What does Jesus Christ have to eat of? What's this meat that he's referring to? Verse number 33, therefore say the disciples one to another, have any man brought him ought to eat? Did someone else feed him? Why isn't Jesus Christ hungry? And then in verse number 34, Jesus saith unto them, my meat or my food is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. He goes, there's something more important than this food right now, guys. We've got to do the work of the one that sent us. This is the food, this is what we have to finish. We've got to finish this before we can go eat the food. What's he talking about? There's a big group of Samaritans making their way that want to know, is this the Christ? And the disciples are too blind to see that these people need to get saved. Jesus Christ knows what his mission is. Let's get these Gentile Samaritans saved. Then in verse number 35, he says, say not ye, there are yet four months and then cometh harvest. So Jesus Christ is explaining a simple farming principle to them, you know that you plant your crops and you know that, I don't know if it's four months or not, I'm not a farmer myself. But he goes, there's a time when we know the crops are going to be brought forth and we have to reap. All right, don't you know the harvest is coming? Referring to what? That big group of Samaritans making their way, okay? He says, behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white or ready to harvest. He goes, open your eyes up, disciples. Can't you see this big group of people, this mass number of people from the city of Samaria are coming their way to come and find out if I'm the Christ, they're trying to find out if I'm the Savior, lift up your eyes. Here's the harvest. This is the priority. We can eat later. This is the priority. These Samaritans, open your eyes, guys. The harvest is here and it wasn't even the Jews and that's why they had a hard time understanding this. Remember the Jews were a bit racist. They had something against the Samaritans. Like I'm not saying all the disciples did but that was kind of the general idea that they had about them. Jesus Christ says, this is the harvest. And it's so amazing that there are so many people that believe that Christ did not care for these Gentiles. That he only came for the Jews. And yet this is such a famous verse. You know, lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white or ready to harvest. And he's speaking about the Samaritans. He's speaking about these Gentiles. Remember, the northern kingdom of Israel was taken away, the people were taken away in the Assyrian Empire. Okay, and then they, you know, multiple people migrated. Yes, some of those northern kingdom tribes returned but the majority of the northern part of this nation were immigrants, were people that were not Jews or that were intermingled with Jews and they became known as the Samaritans. That's why the Jews did not like them because they're a mixed group of people. And it kind of reminded them of Assyria, of that conquering kingdom, of that conquering nation. We don't want anything to do with those people. And Jesus Christ, no, the harvest is here. Open your eyes, lift up your eyes. This is what we have to eat of, these people. This is the priority. You know, sometimes we have morning tea, don't we? We have morning tea at church, morning service. But you know, someone walks into church and is a visitor, is new. You know what's the priority when morning service ends? Morning tea, no, that soul that walked into our church that doesn't know how to be saved, that's the priority. That's what we have to eat of first before we go and eat the morning tea. Nothing wrong with morning tea. Nothing wrong with food, you gotta eat food. Okay, but listen, if you have to make a decision, if someone presents themselves, okay, and someone's ready to hear the gospel, someone is there present with you right now, say, well, hold on, mate, look, it's lunchtime. I'm gonna have lunch first, and now I will go talk about the gospel. Oh, you got your priorities all wrong. In an hour, that person might be gone, okay? Jesus Christ was waiting at the well for the woman, all right? Jesus Christ was waiting another hour. She'd be gone, she got the water, she's gone. This opportunity to preach the gospel to all these Samaritans would be gone. Look what he continued saying in verse number 36. And hear that reaper receiveth wages. Whoa, hey, you're gonna win souls? Jesus Christ is gonna pay you. Wages, it's a job, yeah? I mean, obviously, it's heavenly wages, okay? When we go to, look, the more souls you win for Christ, and look, there's many ways to be rewarded by Christ, but one sure way is to win souls. Your bank account on this earth might not be much, but your bank account in heaven can be plenty if you use your time and earn wages for Jesus by preaching the gospel. Because he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gather fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. What's the context of this passage? Who's the one that sowed? Jesus, who's the one that can reap as this large group of people are coming? His disciples, right? That's the context. Jesus Christ reaped with that woman, and now look, you can, sorry, he sowed with that woman. And now look, we all get to reap. We all get to partake in this labor together. We can rejoice together when we see these people come and be saved. Verse number 37. And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. That's the same. So Jesus Christ sowed, we get to reap. Maybe even you could say the Samaritan woman that went to the city sowed a lot, and all these men are coming, and they're gonna be able to reap from the work of this Samaritan woman. Verse number 38. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor, other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors. Who labored again? Jesus. Even the woman, the Samaritan woman labored. And the disciples, they get to enter into these labors, meaning you don't have to start from scratch. They're ready to go. Sometimes it's like that. You know, sometimes you just have to sow and sow and sow, and you don't get to reap all that much. And sometimes you talk to someone and they're just ready to go. They're ready to be saved. You call them low-hanging fruits. It's like they were just waiting for someone to come to explain the gospel message to them, and they're ready to receive it. And usually the reason why someone is so ready is because someone has already labored. Someone has already sowed the seed, okay? And now it's just time, ready to reap, ready to get those souls saved. And we work together, we rejoice together, we earn wages for heaven. Verse number 39. And this, verse number 39 proves that the woman actually was a soul winner. She actually got many of them saved. And many of the Samaritans of the city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, he told me all that ever I did. So she went back, you know, she went to the city, and she's telling, hey, is this not the Christ? Many believed her. Many believed her testimony. Many believed her gospel presentation. I don't know how, I don't know how perfect her presentation was, but it was enough to explain the minimum that this is the Christ, the savior of the world, offering us a free gift. Are you going to believe in him or not? And many said, yeah, we believe that. Because they were waiting, they knew the Messiahs were coming, they knew the, that's Samaritans, they knew the Messiah, the Christ was coming. So many of them were just ready to go, like, all right, this is it, this must be it. You know, we believe the testimony of this lady. Again, an adulterous woman. I think sometimes we think that people aren't going to listen to us, because we know we're just, we're not much. We know our weaknesses, and we think people are just not going to receive our word, but someone will. You know, those that are ready to just be saved, and desiring to never thirst again. You know, when you go and knock on that door, it might just be one in 100 doors, you don't know what it is, but it could be one in 100. You know, they're ready to receive Christ. God can use you, you're a vessel. Like I said, if God can use this adulterous woman, he can use you, he can use you. Verse number 40. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them, and he abode there two days. See, I'm saying two days in Samaria. Again, for many Christians, I think, Jesus does not care for the Samaritans. Jesus did not care for the Gentiles. It was all about the Jews only. He spends two days. Very different to Judea. As soon as Jesus Christ knows, oh, persecution's coming, let's get out of here. Let's get out of the region that has Jerusalem, because these Jews are rejecting me. But the Samaritans are receiving me, so I'm gonna hang around here for two days. How many salvations do you think he got in two days? And his disciples, and the Samaritan woman. This would have been a huge change for this place. Look at verse number 41, and many more believed because of his own word. Once again, many believed because of the woman, but it says many more believed, so they did believe with the woman, because of his own word. So some were still, I'm not sure, let's go check out this Jesus, and when they heard Jesus preach, ah, yep, we're gonna believe in him. That's him. This is the God. This is the one that gives us salvation. Verse number 42. And said unto the woman, now we turn from our sins. Now we are going to do good works. No, now we believe. Now we believe. Not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and know this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world. You see, when they understood the Christ, this is the savior of the world. For those, verse number 42 is referring to, again, verse number 41. It says, and many more believed. So the ones that didn't believe the woman initially, now they believed, and they say, look, we didn't believe because of what you said, we believed because of what Christ said. Okay? So, you know, this shows us something else that, you know, if you don't feel comfortable giving the gospel, like the woman got some saved, but then many more believed when they came to Jesus, there's nothing wrong if someone is not believing you, or you don't feel comfortable, you don't feel, you know, you're not up to scratch, or you're feeling that you're not very successful, you've given someone the gospel. There's nothing wrong with you bringing someone, that person that you're trying to preach to, someone else that is more experienced, or to bring them to church. You know, we've had people saved in this church, where some might feel, look, I don't know, I don't feel comfortable, I don't know how to give them the gospel, or they're just not receiving it from me, but come to church, and then someone at church has been able to give that person the gospel, and they've gotten saved. Okay? Sometimes people aren't gonna hear you, but they can hear someone else. And a lot, you know, usually this is people that know you, like your own family, your own friends. It's so strange, because you think your family and friends would hear you, but they know what you are. They know you're the, for example, the adulterous woman. Who are you to tell me about Jesus Christ and salvation? They know your failings. They've seen you grow up. They, you know, they've seen your mistakes. Oh, he's on another fad. It's just gonna be like the other time. You know, but, and look, don't give up. Don't like, don't, you know, feel like there's no chance for my loved one to get saved. You know, pray that God would send them a soul winner. Pray that God would send them a missionary to their house. You know, or invite them to church. I'm sure someone is gonna be ready, desiring to give that person the gospel. And when they hear it from someone else, hey, they may very well then believe. Okay? Verse number 40, but hey, in saying that, don't be the person that only brings people to someone else. You give it a crack. The Samaritan woman gave it a crack. Okay, and she got some saved, but others, they had to go and hear Christ themselves. Verse number 43. Now after two days, he departed thence and went into Galilee. All right. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet have no honor in his own country. So he's traveled further north. And when it says that, that a prophet have no honor in his own country, it kind of, you know, when you read that, it kind of sounds like, okay, you went to Galilee because you're not getting honor in your own country. But Galilee is his country. Like where was Jesus raised? We know he was born in Bethlehem, but where was he raised? Nazareth, right? Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Well, Nazareth is in Galilee. All right, so, but he's gone to Galilee and you'll soon see that many Galileans got saved. But when he talks about their, his own country, he's talking about Nazareth. He's talking about his local area. Okay, people, he's saying, look, I'm not gonna get an honor in my own area. Again, it's that familiarity. When people know they've seen you grow up, I go, that's just Joseph's son, the carpenter, right? When we know that about Jesus Christ. That's not, how's that the Christ? You know, we've grown up with him, right? We played games together with him when we grew up. I can, that's not the Christ. Sometimes prophets have a hard time getting honor or, you know, respectability, I suppose, in their own area. And, you know, this is one, not the main reason, but this is one reason why I didn't wanna start a church in Sydney. You know, I guess it would've been easier to just be, all right, I live in Sydney, got a home in Sydney, and everyone in Sydney. I know how to get around. I know the suburbs. You know, I feel like I know the more receptive areas versus other areas. So maybe we'll just start a church in Sydney. But I just thought, oh, I don't know, Jesus Christ says there's no honor for a prophet in his own country. So maybe I need to get out of there. And Lord, where do you want me to go? And of course, the Lord's brought me here to the Sunshine Coast. But what's funny about that is that we did end up starting a church there in Sydney. And not just any place in Sydney, literally the same area that I grew up in. It's not because I desired it, it's just that's where the location was made available to us. You know, it is what it is, right? But Jesus Christ, when we read this passage, he's avoiding Nazareth, he's avoiding that area where people are very familiar with him and his family. Because then it says there in verse number, well, actually, something else I wanna talk to you before we keep going. So think about this logically. You got Judea, where the Jews are, Jerusalem, okay? It's a very Jewish-centric place. Then further north is Samaria, and you know there are mixed people, primarily people that migrated that aren't even Jews at all, okay? And then further north, separating all the Jews, is Galilee. So do you think, by thinking of that, do you think Galilee's gonna be full of Jews? What are your thoughts? You've got Judea, Samaria. We know that Assyria, when they came, they conquered the northern area, all right? So that includes Samaria, plus everything north of that, okay? What I'm trying to tell you is that Galilee itself is not, and you might not understand this when you read the Bible, but that's not like this Jewish area. Now, there are Jews in Galilee, okay? It's in Galilee, okay? It's more Jewish than Samaria, but it's still full of mixed people. It's still full of Gentiles, okay? It's still full of Gentiles. And I just wanna prove this a little bit to you. Keep your finger there, and come with me to Matthew chapter four. Come with me to Matthew chapter four. Matthew chapter four and verse number 12. Because I also wanna deal, like I said, I wanna deal with this issue where people say Jesus came for the Jews and didn't care for the Gentiles. They're just plan B, because the Jews rejected him. No, okay? He goes to Galilee. In fact, the majority, maybe all of his disciples are from Galilee, okay? And one of his disciples was Simon the Canaanite. It's not even a Jew. He's a Canaanite, okay? It's because Galilee was still very mixed. And if you have a look at Matthew chapter four, verse 12, Matthew chapter four, verse 12, it says, now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee, and leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast in the borders of Zebulon and Nephilim, that he might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying, the land of Zebulon and the land of Nephilim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, notice the next phrase, Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee of the Gentiles. Galilee was primarily Gentiles. Were there Jews there? Yes, there was. But once again, it's people that were mixed amongst the Assyrian kingdom, okay? It's people that don't speak Hebrew. In fact, does anybody know what language the Samaritans spoke? Samaritans, not the Galileans. What language did the Samaritans speak? Anyone know? Aramaic, yeah, Aramaic. What language do you think the Galileans spoke? Hebrew? No, Aramaic. The Galileans spoke Aramaic. Jesus Christ is from Galilee. He grew up in Nazareth. What language did Jesus Christ speak? Aramaic. Remember when he was taken into Jerusalem, arrested, brought into the temple, then crucified, and he said those words, Eli, Eli, lama, sabachthani. That was Aramaic. Because remember, the people there in Jerusalem, in Judea, they don't understand Aramaic. They're like, oh, he's calling for Elijah. Because he's not speaking Hebrew. He's speaking Aramaic. Oh, he's speaking, you know, he's calling out Elijah, give him something to drink so we can hear what he has to say to Elijah. He's not speaking to Elijah. He said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? I've heard people say, oh, the language that we're gonna be speaking in heaven is Hebrew. Well, Jesus Christ is speaking to his father in Aramaic. Heh, heh, heh, heh. The son, God the son, is speaking to God the father in Aramaic. I don't know what language we're gonna speak in heaven. Maybe all of them. Because language is a thing of God. It's a creation of God. Isn't that the same thing? People have this, oh, Jesus has his preferred people, the Jews, and Jesus Christ has his preferred language, Hebrew. Jesus Christ came for all. Jesus spoke Aramaic. He had no problem praying to his father in another language. You see, Galilee is full of Gentiles. Okay? And again, when you sort of just, it's, you probably don't realize it. It's when you start to kind of think about Bible maps and geography, and I think it's really helpful. Like, if you can find, there's so many Bible maps online, just Google it. Just Google Maps When Jesus Christ Walked the Earth, something like that. And as you read the Bible and you see locations, think about the locations, think about the traveling, and then it starts to kind of make a lot of sense. Okay? And you're not gonna end up with this crazy view that Christ just came for the Jews. He came for all. When he's gone to Galilee, he's gone to the Gentiles. Galilee of the Gentiles. Okay? So, you know, in this same chapter, not only is Christ going to the Samaritans, he's going to the Gentiles, where a lot of preachers say to you, no, he just came for the Jews. And lucky you, Gentiles, that the Jews rejected him. No, he always came for the Gentiles. He always came for the Samaritans. Okay? Yes, to the Jew first, but also to the Gentiles, also to the Greek. Let's keep going there. Sorry, I've lost my spot. Verse number, oh, sorry, are you still in Matthew four? If you're still in Matthew four, I wanted to finish that, sorry. Verse number four, let's read verse number 15 again. I got a bit sidetracked. The land of Zebulun, the land of Nephilim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, okay, of the Gentiles, the people which sat in darkness saw great light. And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. So this is a prophecy of Isaiah, that in the Galilee of the Gentiles, they're gonna see a light. They're gonna come out of darkness and come into that marvelous light of Jesus Christ. Don't forget, John chapter one already introduced us as Jesus Christ as the light of the world. Okay? The light and the life of men. Okay, oh yeah, and then in verse number 17 there, Matthew four, 17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That's important. Remember I told you that there are some that say the kingdom of heaven is just for the Jews. I'm looking at Matthew four, 17. Sorry, I'm bouncing around a little bit, I know. I'm looking at Matthew four, 17. Matthew four, 15 mentioned, when I say this and I'll be sarcastic, I'm not exaggerating because I've heard this taught. I've sat there listening to Bible college courses. Men here in Australia trying to teach the Bible, trying to teach the Bible, they're teaching philosophies of men that teach in their interpretations, but when we look at God's word, it's so clear that Christ cared for the Gentiles, that he came for the Gentiles as well. The prophecy of Isaiah is about to come true as we keep reading here in John chapter four. Come back to John chapter four. John chapter four, verse number 45. John chapter four, verse number 45. Then when he was coming to Galilee, the Galileans received him. The Samaritans received him, the Galileans of the Gentiles received him. The Jews, they did not like Jesus. Having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went unto the feast. What was that feast? That was the Passover feast, Passover. So when Christ went and made those cords and chased out the merchants in the house of the Lord, some of these Galileans saw that and they were like, hey, this guy's awesome. And then when he comes to Galilee, they're like, yeah, we believe in him. Like, it really caught their attention how he had authority in the house of God. Again, remember Galilee's mixed. It's got Gentiles, it's got Jews, okay? Some of them came to the Passover and they could testify of Christ as well. Yeah, man, did you hear that story when he went in there and he bossed those merchants around? He knocked over all those tables. Remember that? You know, it's like, man, this is a hero. This guy's awesome. And so it's easy for them to believe in him. Verse number 46. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee where he made the water wine. Remember that was the wedding, the wedding feast. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. And when he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him and besought him that he would come down and heal his son for he was at the point of death. So this guy finds out that Jesus Christ can perform miracles. His son is sick, almost dying. He goes, oh, what, is Jesus coming to Galilee? So he goes and finds him, I gotta go heal my son. Now, as we keep going, he's not a believer of Christ, but he's a believer that Christ can heal his son in that sense. He believes that Christ can heal his son, but he's not a believer on Christ, okay, at this point in time. Because then it says there in verse number 48, then said Jesus unto him, except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. So he says, look, you haven't believed yet, okay? The nobleman's safe unto him, sir, come down here, my child die. Because look, just come and help my child, all right? So he believes that Jesus Christ can heal, but he hasn't believed on Christ, if that makes sense, okay? Verse number 50, Jesus saith unto him, go thy way and thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. So he believes, yeah, okay, Jesus Christ said it, I believe that, okay? Verse number 51, and as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, thy son liveth. So on his way back home, Jesus Christ never went to his seed son, but the servants come, hey, your son's alive, your son's alive, right? Then verse number 52, they inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend, and they said unto him, yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus saith unto him, thy son liveth. So he goes, at the same time, Jesus Christ said those words that my son was getting better, got better, okay? And then it says this, and himself believed and his whole house. Now he's a believer of Christ, okay? Because I believe on him. And then it says, and his whole house. So guess who became the next soul winner in this chapter? This certain nobleman, because how does his house know about Christ, right? He goes, look, it was Christ. It was this man, Jesus, that healed our son. He's a believer in Christ, and now your whole household is a believer, believers. Amazing, soul winners from day number one, Samaritan woman to the city of Samaria, this nobleman to his whole house, to his whole family, maybe servants, he's a nobleman, he's a man of authority, maybe he's got other people under him, under his authority. He preaches them all of Christ, and they all believe. Verse number 54, this is again the second miracle that Jesus did, and when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. Now, I'm not sure, just, you know, I'm finished here, but just my quick thoughts, I'm not sure if this is the second miracle that Jesus Christ ever did, because I was trying to look at other gospels, trying to line up the chronology of certain things, and it appears that Jesus Christ may have done healings in other places, and if that happened, then it would make a lot more sense that this man believes that Jesus Christ can do healing himself. And if that's the case, then it says, and this is again the second miracle that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee, it could be the second miracle that he did in Galilee, the first miracle being the water turned into wine, water turned into grape juice, that could be the case, or it could literally be the second miracle that he's ever done, and maybe I'm just getting the chronology not quite right. Sometimes it's a little bit difficult when you're comparing passages, because like, for example, the book of John, sorry, the book of Luke is very thematic. Sometimes it's not always in chronological order, and so sometimes it's difficult to just line things up, but you know, all the stories are there. So brethren, the title for the sermon tonight was Living Water. Jesus Christ came to offer us a free gift of salvation, and all you have to do is believe who he is, the savior of the world, the Christ. Receive the free gift, never thirst again. Believe that he can save you. Put your faith and trust on him, and then what? Then go tell others that they can do the same. All right, let's pray.