If You Only Knew About God’s Gift

John 4
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Pastor Colin recounts Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman. He explains the historical and cultural background of the Samaritans, illustrating their spiritual confusion and mixed religious practices.

Pastor Colin draws a parallel between the spiritual confusion in Samaria and contemporary culture, where people mix various religious ideas with biblical knowledge, leading to a similar state of confusion.

Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, found in John 4:10, serves as the crux of the sermon. Jesus highlights two crucial truths: the gift of God and His own unique identity. The woman misunderstands the gift of God, thinking of it merely as something to alleviate her daily struggles, akin to how many today view spirituality.

Pastor Colin underscores that the gift of God is far greater than mere spiritual exercise; it is the indwelling presence of God through the Holy Spirit, offering a profound, life-changing relationship.

The sermon ends with an invitation to ask for this gift and enter into a relationship with Jesus, followed by a prayer encouraging seekers to invite God’s presence into their lives and receive His gift of everlasting life.

1 00:00:00,880 –> 00:00:03,680 Shall we bow in God’s presence in a moment of prayer together? 2 00:00:06,320 –> 00:00:11,120 Father, your Word has been read to us, and it carries its own power. 3 00:00:11,920 –> 00:00:16,320 Now, as we have opportunity to reflect upon it, we ask that you will 4 00:00:16,320 –> 00:00:22,799 work it into our minds and into our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. 5 00:00:23,780 –> 00:00:29,680 Help us to see Jesus in his great and unique glory, 6 00:00:30,879 –> 00:00:38,240 and to grasp what it is that you offer to us, and that we may come and ask and receive. 7 00:00:39,439 –> 00:00:45,119 For these things we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen. 8 00:00:47,520 –> 00:00:51,520 Now, we’ve been learning on these Sunday mornings that a Christian is a person 9 00:00:51,520 –> 00:00:57,040 whose life is shaped by certain convictions. That is why the Bible makes it very clear 10 00:00:57,040 –> 00:01:02,080 that real and lasting change in any person’s life begins in the mind. 11 00:01:02,720 –> 00:01:08,080 Be transformed, the apostle Paul says, by the renewing of your mind. 12 00:01:08,879 –> 00:01:13,199 And we have been making some life changing discoveries from the Bible as we have tried 13 00:01:13,199 –> 00:01:18,639 to grasp some of the key truths that shape the life of a Christian believer. 14 00:01:18,639 –> 00:01:22,480 We began by discovering the truth of God’s mercy. Jesus said, 15 00:01:22,480 –> 00:01:28,639 if you knew what God meant when he said, I desire mercy not sacrifice. 16 00:01:29,440 –> 00:01:33,599 He went on to explain that if you grasped that you’d be a completely different person. 17 00:01:33,599 –> 00:01:37,839 If you knew about the mercy of God, if that took root within your mind, 18 00:01:37,839 –> 00:01:41,279 you would have joy and worship and you would be a blessing to other people. 19 00:01:42,160 –> 00:01:46,800 Then last week we looked at the judgment seat of Christ. We saw that the Bible teaches clearly 20 00:01:46,800 –> 00:01:52,720 that every person who has ever lived will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, 21 00:01:52,720 –> 00:02:00,080 and on that day hidden service for Jesus Christ will be rewarded and hidden secrets 22 00:02:00,080 –> 00:02:06,959 will be revealed. And if you knew that, it would affect the whole trajectory of your life. 23 00:02:07,839 –> 00:02:12,559 If I know deeply within my mind, and within my heart that I will stand before Christ, 24 00:02:12,559 –> 00:02:18,800 then I will invest my life in that which He has said He will reward, and I will walk in the light. 25 00:02:18,800 –> 00:02:24,639 I will be very careful not to try and cover secret sins, but to bring them into the open 26 00:02:24,639 –> 00:02:30,479 and to confess them before God. Now this morning we’re going to turn to John’s Gospel in chapter 27 00:02:30,479 –> 00:02:36,800 four, where we discover a third life-changing truth. Another thing that Jesus identifies 28 00:02:36,800 –> 00:02:44,080 with these three fascinating words, if you knew. John’s Gospel in Chapter Four. 29 00:02:45,440 –> 00:02:51,839 Jesus was walking on a journey from Jerusalem, in the south of Israel, to Galilee in the north, 30 00:02:51,839 –> 00:02:56,800 and that meant that he traveled through a mountainous region that we know as Samaria. 31 00:02:57,600 –> 00:03:02,880 John tells us that the particular incident that he records took place at the sixth hour 32 00:03:03,600 –> 00:03:09,520 that’s mid-day, and if you imagine the middle of the day in the blistering heat 33 00:03:10,160 –> 00:03:15,520 and you’re making an arduous journey, you won’t be surprised to find out that Jesus was tired, 34 00:03:15,520 –> 00:03:21,279 and he and the disciples pulled off as it were into an oasis where they were able to 35 00:03:21,279 –> 00:03:27,199 refresh themselves. The disciples went to get some food to eat, and Jesus sat there by the well. 36 00:03:27,919 –> 00:03:34,160 And we’re told that at that time a Samaritan woman arrived to draw water from the well, 37 00:03:34,800 –> 00:03:40,479 a Samaritan woman. Now, the Samaritans occur a number of times in the Scriptures, 38 00:03:40,479 –> 00:03:45,600 and it’s well worth knowing a little bit about them. Absolutely fascinating story. 39 00:03:46,639 –> 00:03:52,639 700 years before Jesus Christ came into the world, this northern part of what was the 40 00:03:52,639 –> 00:03:59,600 kingdom of Israel at that time was invaded by the king of Assyria. And the northern tribes 41 00:03:59,600 –> 00:04:05,119 were scattered either because they fled from the invading army or because they were taken 42 00:04:05,119 –> 00:04:12,320 by that army into exile in other parts of the vast Assyrian kingdom. And that left the whole 43 00:04:12,320 –> 00:04:19,519 of this area of Samaria like a ghost town, utterly desolate. Now, the king of Assyria 44 00:04:19,519 –> 00:04:24,720 decided that he didn’t want to have part of his empire lying completely desolate. But at the 45 00:04:24,720 –> 00:04:28,640 same time, he didn’t want the people who had originally belonged there to be living there 46 00:04:28,640 –> 00:04:35,040 either. So what he did was he forcibly brought people from other parts of his kingdom, from 47 00:04:35,040 –> 00:04:41,839 other countries that had also been conquered, and resettled them in this area of Samaria. 48 00:04:42,720 –> 00:04:49,760 So in other words, what happened was that there were immigrant groups from all kinds of different 49 00:04:50,640 –> 00:04:59,359 cultural backgrounds who were forcibly repatriated in this desolated area of Samaria. 50 00:05:00,239 –> 00:05:05,200 And of course, these people came without any knowledge whatsoever of the living God of the 51 00:05:05,200 –> 00:05:10,160 Bible. They had been brought up in cultures with all kinds of different religions and philosophies 52 00:05:10,160 –> 00:05:17,679 and ideas, and they brought all of their idols with them. Then God did something absolutely 53 00:05:17,679 –> 00:05:25,839 fascinating among this multi-ethnic population. You read about it in 2nd Kings in chapter 17 54 00:05:25,839 –> 00:05:36,559 where we’re told that the Lord sent lions among them. It’s a wholly extraordinary action of God. 55 00:05:37,519 –> 00:05:41,040 Rather frightening if you can imagine yourself out in the park and you’re having a sandwich, 56 00:05:41,040 –> 00:05:44,559 and a picnic, and the kids are shooting baskets, and all the rest of it, and suddenly half a 57 00:05:44,559 –> 00:05:50,160 dozen lions appear, you know that you’re in trouble. And this became something of a national 58 00:05:50,160 –> 00:05:54,799 crisis. There are lions that are roaming this area, this has not been known before, 59 00:05:54,799 –> 00:05:59,519 and what are we going to do about it? Well the question got all the way up to the top. 60 00:05:59,519 –> 00:06:05,839 The king of Assyria, he wasn’t very sure what to do about it, but this was his decision. He said 61 00:06:05,839 –> 00:06:11,040 well, there was a God that was worshipped in that area and maybe we’ve offended that God and He sent 62 00:06:11,040 –> 00:06:17,600 lions, so let’s send one of the priests who knows about the God who’s worshipped in that area, 63 00:06:17,600 –> 00:06:22,000 maybe He can do something about it, we’ll send one of these Jewish priests back. 64 00:06:23,359 –> 00:06:30,559 And so a lone priest was settled back in the area from which he had recently been taken. 65 00:06:31,279 –> 00:06:35,760 Try and imagine what it’s like for this fellow. He’s just been moved from his home in Samaria, 66 00:06:36,079 –> 00:06:42,000 some remote part of the Assyrian empire. One day, an emissary of the king says, 67 00:06:42,000 –> 00:06:47,440 you’d better pack your bags, you’re going back to where you came from. Why? Well, the 68 00:06:47,440 –> 00:06:53,519 king of Assyria says so. Why? Well, he wants you to teach these new people who are living there 69 00:06:53,519 –> 00:06:59,679 about your god. The king of Assyria wants me to teach these people about my God? Yes, he does. 70 00:07:00,239 –> 00:07:06,880 Why? Well, because there’s lions, we don’t know what to do about it. So, this single priest, 71 00:07:06,880 –> 00:07:13,519 it was one man, becomes the first state-sponsored missionary 72 00:07:14,160 –> 00:07:18,799 to a multi-ethnic community. It was an absolutely fascinating story. So, he arrives back in the 73 00:07:18,799 –> 00:07:25,200 area that he has shortly before left, and he begins to teach these people from all kinds 74 00:07:25,200 –> 00:07:32,239 of different cultures about the living God of the Bible, and you can read about it in 2 Kings 17, 75 00:07:32,239 –> 00:07:38,000 in verse 28. One of the priests, who had been exiled from Samaria, came to live in Bethel, 76 00:07:38,000 –> 00:07:43,519 and he taught these people how to worship the Lord. Nevertheless, the Bible says, 77 00:07:44,079 –> 00:07:52,079 each national group made its own gods in the several towns where they settled. 78 00:07:52,799 –> 00:07:59,279 And then we’re told they worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance 79 00:07:59,279 –> 00:08:07,200 with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought. That tells you that Samaria 80 00:08:07,920 –> 00:08:16,160 was a spiritually confused culture. What happened over the next years and generations 81 00:08:16,959 –> 00:08:23,679 was that a culture developed in which there was some knowledge of the God of the Bible, 82 00:08:24,320 –> 00:08:32,719 but it was all mixed up with all kinds of religious ideas drawn from every nation from 83 00:08:32,719 –> 00:08:40,799 which people had come, all kinds of contradictory philosophies, blended together in a kind of a 84 00:08:40,880 –> 00:08:49,840 mini-strudy soup of a religion. That’s what it was like in Samaria. Now, when you hear that, 85 00:08:51,359 –> 00:09:00,559 it may dawn on you that there is another culture not so different today. A culture where many 86 00:09:00,559 –> 00:09:06,400 people know something about the God of the Bible, but they’ve got it all mixed up 87 00:09:07,359 –> 00:09:12,719 with a bunch of other contradictory ideas that are drawn from various cultures and various 88 00:09:12,719 –> 00:09:20,640 philosophies and various religious backgrounds. So that our people today, in this generation and 89 00:09:20,640 –> 00:09:27,359 in this culture, know something about the God of the Bible. But in our situation, 90 00:09:27,359 –> 00:09:34,320 it gets too often all mixed up with a dash of yoga, a sprinkling of New Age, 91 00:09:35,280 –> 00:09:43,119 a couple of spoonfuls of psychology, lashings of self-interest, and a whole menu is served for us 92 00:09:43,919 –> 00:09:50,880 attractively in the People’s Church by Oprah Winfrey. That’s where our culture is. 93 00:09:52,239 –> 00:10:00,799 It has become a kind of amalgam, a mishmash of religious ideas drawn from all over the world 94 00:10:01,599 –> 00:10:10,400 and somehow mixed together in what becomes a culture of spiritual confusion. 95 00:10:11,679 –> 00:10:20,880 Now, one day Jesus sat down beside a well and spoke to a lady from such a culture, 96 00:10:22,479 –> 00:10:29,280 and when you understand who the Samaritans were and the culture in which this lady had been raised, 97 00:10:30,080 –> 00:10:37,200 you will understand the unique importance of Jesus’ conversation with her for the task 98 00:10:37,200 –> 00:10:42,719 that we have of presenting the good news of Jesus Christ in our culture today. 99 00:10:43,440 –> 00:10:47,039 Now, I want to focus your attention on verse 10 which is the heart of the story 100 00:10:47,679 –> 00:10:52,719 John chapter 4 and verse 10. Jesus says to this lady, 101 00:10:53,679 –> 00:11:01,200 If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, 102 00:11:02,640 –> 00:11:09,200 you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. 103 00:11:10,719 –> 00:11:16,080 Now, notice how Jesus identifies two things that she desperately needed to know. If you 104 00:11:16,080 –> 00:11:24,400 knew the gift of God, the first problem for the lady brought up in this spiritually confused 105 00:11:24,400 –> 00:11:33,679 culture is that she had greatly underestimated the gift of God. Now remember, she is religious. 106 00:11:33,679 –> 00:11:38,159 She knew about worship. She knew about the worship that had taken place on Mount Gerizim. 107 00:11:38,159 –> 00:11:41,840 She’s able to sustain a discussion about spiritual matters with Jesus. 108 00:11:42,719 –> 00:11:48,960 She would undoubtedly have said that spirituality was important to her, 109 00:11:50,000 –> 00:11:57,760 but for all her interest in spirituality, she had no idea about the gift of God. 110 00:11:58,479 –> 00:12:03,039 Now I want to suggest to you that that is exactly the position of many of our contemporaries today. 111 00:12:03,679 –> 00:12:11,520 It has become very common for people to embrace spirituality in whatever form. People regularly 112 00:12:11,520 –> 00:12:17,520 will identify themselves as being mind and body and spirit, and have seen that it is very 113 00:12:17,520 –> 00:12:24,880 important for there to be exercise for the mind and the body and the spirit. So many would say 114 00:12:24,880 –> 00:12:32,000 that a very good way to spend a Sunday would be to read a newspaper, because that exercises 115 00:12:32,000 –> 00:12:37,280 the mind. That’s good. Go for a walk or perhaps even better, a run around the lake, because that 116 00:12:37,280 –> 00:12:43,039 exercises the body, and by all means go to church, because that exercises the spirit. 117 00:12:44,239 –> 00:12:48,880 And of course it doesn’t just need to be a church, in fact, you could go to any religious activity, 118 00:12:48,880 –> 00:12:54,799 so long as it exercises the spirit in your own way. In fact, we could push it even further, 119 00:12:54,799 –> 00:12:59,520 because there are other ways of exercising the human spirit. Going on a sailboat would do 120 00:12:59,919 –> 00:13:07,039 similar for you, actually. Now you see, because our culture has understood 121 00:13:09,359 –> 00:13:14,719 the gift of God to be the exercise of the human spirit, 122 00:13:16,559 –> 00:13:24,400 the logical consequence is that any religion will do. Any religion will do, whatever one works 123 00:13:25,200 –> 00:13:32,000 for you. It is self-evident that there are many ways to stretch the mind. 124 00:13:33,200 –> 00:13:40,479 It is self-evident that there are many ways to exercise the body. And therefore the conclusion 125 00:13:40,479 –> 00:13:46,239 is that there are equally many, many ways in which we may exercise the human spirit. 126 00:13:46,239 –> 00:13:51,919 And of course, our contemporaries there for today say, well, if you’re saying that there’s only one 127 00:13:51,919 –> 00:13:57,280 way to exercise the human spirit, that sounds as ridiculous to us as suggesting there’s only one 128 00:13:57,280 –> 00:14:01,760 newspaper you could read or one book you could read or one course you could run in order to 129 00:14:01,760 –> 00:14:07,919 exercise your body. It’s ridiculous! Now, you see where the fundamental problem lies. 130 00:14:10,080 –> 00:14:17,679 Failing to grasp the gift of God, in our spiritually confused culture we have imagined 131 00:14:18,400 –> 00:14:22,719 that all God is concerned about is to give us a spiritual dimension for life. 132 00:14:24,880 –> 00:14:31,119 A bit of exercise for the human spirit. And if that is what you think the gift of God is, 133 00:14:31,119 –> 00:14:39,359 then it logically follows that any religion will do. That’s where this woman was. 134 00:14:40,239 –> 00:14:44,479 was. And Jesus says to her, 135 00:14:45,760 –> 00:14:49,919 Oh, if only you knew what the gift of God is. 136 00:14:52,159 –> 00:14:56,960 If only you knew! You think the gift of God is something here. It’s something 137 00:14:56,960 –> 00:15:00,239 out of the horizon that you’ve seen. If only you knew it. 138 00:15:02,719 –> 00:15:08,239 It’s very interesting, as Jesus begins to speak with her, and he talks to her about living water, 139 00:15:08,320 –> 00:15:14,159 you notice how she understands that in verse 15, Sir, give me this water so that I won’t 140 00:15:14,159 –> 00:15:23,200 get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. And it’s interesting that the greatest 141 00:15:23,200 –> 00:15:30,400 thing that she can imagine God doing for her is to alleviate her laborious routine. After all, 142 00:15:30,400 –> 00:15:34,719 she has to take this pot every day. Perhaps she carries it in her head, she goes, she fills it 143 00:15:34,719 –> 00:15:39,919 from the well, she has to take it back. It’s a laborious routine that she has to do every day. 144 00:15:41,599 –> 00:15:45,440 In actual fact, thinking about it, it occurred to me that not very much has changed. You see 145 00:15:45,440 –> 00:15:54,000 people coming out of Julius crude with gallons of water. I mean, it is incredible. I mean, 146 00:15:54,000 –> 00:15:58,000 at least we’ve got little wheelie carts to help us and vans to carry at home, but 147 00:15:59,039 –> 00:16:03,599 things have not changed very much. What do you have to do to provide for a family? 148 00:16:04,239 –> 00:16:10,320 Don’t you wish it was easier? Don’t you find some of the grind of life just to be laborious? 149 00:16:12,400 –> 00:16:16,479 And you see, this woman’s idea is, if I could ask one thing of God, it would be this. 150 00:16:17,760 –> 00:16:25,440 Make my life a little easier. Make it a little brighter. That’s the limit of her horizon 151 00:16:26,960 –> 00:16:32,159 as to what God might do for her. And a lot of people have that idea, 152 00:16:32,159 –> 00:16:38,159 even in church on Sunday mornings. You know pastor, I need some help just to get through another week. 153 00:16:39,919 –> 00:16:45,039 Give me something to lighten the load. Give me some chicken soup for the soul. 154 00:16:45,039 –> 00:16:49,840 Give me something to brighten my face. Tell me a story. I need that. 155 00:16:49,840 –> 00:17:02,880 And Jesus says, If you knew the gift of God—now she totally underestimated it. 156 00:17:04,400 –> 00:17:07,920 And I want to suggest to you that if we are to communicate with this spiritually 157 00:17:07,920 –> 00:17:12,000 confused culture the first thing we’ve got to do is explain what God’s gift is, 158 00:17:12,000 –> 00:17:14,239 because people just don’t understand it. 159 00:17:14,319 –> 00:17:22,880 Here’s the second issue. It’s not just that she underestimated the gift of God, 160 00:17:22,880 –> 00:17:28,560 but she had not perceived the uniqueness of Jesus. Notice Christ’s words. If you knew the 161 00:17:28,560 –> 00:17:40,160 gift of God and who it is who asks you for a drink. Extraordinary to think about this lady 162 00:17:40,160 –> 00:17:46,560 standing face to face with the Son of God, and she hasn’t the faintest idea of who he is. 163 00:17:48,719 –> 00:17:52,160 Of course, that should not surprise us particularly. She arrives at a well. 164 00:17:52,160 –> 00:17:57,520 She happens to meet, as she sees it, a man who asks her for a drink. And suddenly this man 165 00:17:57,520 –> 00:18:02,640 begins speaking to her about living water. And she’s not impressed, she really isn’t. 166 00:18:03,599 –> 00:18:08,640 I mean, this woman’s been married five times, so she’s heard some big talk and some fancy 167 00:18:08,640 –> 00:18:14,800 promises before. She’s not naive. Oh, here we go again, big talk. Here’s a man, what’s his line? 168 00:18:14,800 –> 00:18:19,680 Yes, he’s going to give me living water. Well, marvelous and he hasn’t even got a bucket. 169 00:18:23,920 –> 00:18:28,400 Well, you must be greater than our father Jacob then, mustn’t you? He had to dig a well and he 170 00:18:28,400 –> 00:18:33,040 had a bucket but apparently you can do better? That’s the attitude of her response to Jesus. 171 00:18:33,439 –> 00:18:39,920 She’s rather cynical about this man and his claims. And I think that we know how she felt, 172 00:18:40,719 –> 00:18:46,479 because the truth is that we live in a world of overinflated claims. 173 00:18:47,359 –> 00:18:52,160 And because we’re so used to hearing grandiose claims that amount to nothing very much in the 174 00:18:52,160 –> 00:18:58,000 end, we find it difficult to hear the authentic promise of Jesus. 175 00:18:58,000 –> 00:19:10,959 I’ve seen Gaterade have water now, by the way. You seen their advert? A bottle and drops 176 00:19:10,959 –> 00:19:15,920 coming out. And as the drops come out they turn into sports personalities who thrive 177 00:19:15,920 –> 00:19:22,560 into action. Marvelous. Now, you see that’s how this woman is hearing Jesus. 178 00:19:22,560 –> 00:19:27,280 Living water. Send your order with a first month’s payment 179 00:19:27,280 –> 00:19:33,739 to Living Water, P.O. Box 999, Anaheim, CA, or visit us on the webinars at www.livingwater.com. 180 00:19:33,739 –> 00:19:47,199 Now, you see that is how she hears Jesus. Another travelling preacher with another big 181 00:19:47,920 –> 00:20:00,099 and in a world of broken promises, the reality of Jesus is lost for many people in a world 182 00:20:00,099 –> 00:20:15,719 of hype. Jesus said, if you knew who was speaking to you—of course in order to reveal who 183 00:20:15,920 –> 00:20:22,239 he is—He begins to speak about her personal life, touches right in on some of her disappointed 184 00:20:22,239 –> 00:20:29,920 hopes and dreams. And she realizes as he speaks about her home situation that actually, this 185 00:20:29,920 –> 00:20:36,400 man is very different. He knows everything about her. So she says, Sir – verse 19 – I 186 00:20:36,400 –> 00:20:41,459 can see that you are a prophet. Now, prophets were a bit special so there weren’t so many 187 00:20:41,459 –> 00:20:47,060 of them around. The woman seizes the opportunity to ask her one spiritual question. Are you 188 00:20:47,060 –> 00:20:50,280 really a prophet? You can probably answer this question actually. I’ve asked a few 189 00:20:50,280 –> 00:20:54,560 people, never really got a very good answer. Maybe you can tell me. Some people say that 190 00:20:54,560 –> 00:20:59,260 we should worship here at Gerizim and the Jews, your people, say that worship should 191 00:20:59,260 –> 00:21:07,079 take place at Jerusalem. Which one’s right? Can you imagine standing face-to-face with 192 00:21:07,099 –> 00:21:17,619 the Son of God and asking that question? You see, she has no idea. Lo, says Jesus, if you 193 00:21:17,619 –> 00:21:28,380 knew the gift of God, if you knew lady, what God wants to give you, and if you knew who 194 00:21:28,500 –> 00:21:37,699 I am?,” Jesus says. So it’d be a whole different conversation. But she greatly underestimated 195 00:21:37,699 –> 00:21:47,020 the gift of God, and she did not perceive the uniqueness of Jesus. Those are two issues 196 00:21:47,020 –> 00:21:54,660 that most need to be communicated in our spiritually confused culture, the gift of God, the uniqueness 197 00:21:54,880 –> 00:22:02,560 of Jesus. Now, notice how Jesus does this in our last few moments together. I’d like to invite 198 00:22:02,560 –> 00:22:08,500 you to turn to one cross-reference this morning, and that’s in Jeremiah and chapter 2 and verse 13. 199 00:22:08,500 –> 00:22:17,880 Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 13. As Jesus speaks to her about this living water, and we have a very 200 00:22:17,880 –> 00:22:23,180 clear statement in the Old Testament that helps us to understand what it is that Jesus is speaking 201 00:22:23,319 –> 00:22:35,040 about. Jeremiah in chapter 2 and verse 13. And here, God is speaking directly through the Prophet 202 00:22:35,040 –> 00:22:43,160 Jeremiah, and he says, My people have committed two sins. They have forsaken Me, the spring of 203 00:22:43,160 –> 00:22:48,760 living water, and they’ve dug out their own cisterns that cannot hold water. Notice what 204 00:22:48,900 –> 00:23:01,760 says, they’ve forsaken Me, the spring of living water. You see what God is saying? I am the spring 205 00:23:01,760 –> 00:23:10,219 of living water. Now, take that truth and plug it into what Jesus is saying in John in chapter 3. 206 00:23:10,439 –> 00:23:25,979 Because Jesus is talking about the spring of living water being in you, being in you. This 207 00:23:25,979 –> 00:23:34,060 is the gift of God. Not that somehow we get a little bit of a spiritual up on a Sunday, 208 00:23:34,060 –> 00:23:46,140 but that God himself by his Holy Spirit offers to enter your life be with you and in you by 209 00:23:46,140 –> 00:23:51,040 the power of the Holy Spirit involved in everything that you do, standing with you in everything that 210 00:23:51,040 –> 00:24:00,180 you face, sharing your life here until the day when you will share his life there in his immediate 211 00:24:00,180 –> 00:24:10,800 presence in heaven. This is the gift of God. God offers to you not some kind of spiritual tonic 212 00:24:10,800 –> 00:24:22,400 that you could get at any one of a dozen religious stalls, but he offers to you his very Self. Now 213 00:24:22,400 –> 00:24:26,540 in the Old Testament people had been taught and it had been cultivated that you could, as it were, 214 00:24:26,599 –> 00:24:31,640 make a visit to the place of God’s presence. But only some people could come, sometime some place. 215 00:24:31,640 –> 00:24:45,839 But here Jesus is saying to an immigrant woman, God himself offers to enter your life and to fill 216 00:24:45,859 –> 00:24:54,319 it. The Spirit of God can live in you. God will enter into everything that you face, 217 00:24:54,319 –> 00:25:03,619 and then bring you into everything that he enjoys. That’s the gift of God. 218 00:25:04,020 –> 00:25:20,859 Imagine being able to start a new job, saying, God is with me. Imagine being able to 219 00:25:20,859 –> 00:25:26,579 face the most ordinary task in life. You come out of Jules Asco with your gallons of water, 220 00:25:27,439 –> 00:25:39,239 and being able to say, God is with me. Imagine facing an unexpected disaster 221 00:25:39,239 –> 00:25:53,319 and being able to say, God is with me. Imagine coming to the moment of death and being able 222 00:25:53,319 –> 00:26:03,560 to say, God is with me. And right now he is going to take me into his immediate presence. 223 00:26:03,560 –> 00:26:15,380 This is a different league from some exercise of the human spirit. This is the gift of God, 224 00:26:15,380 –> 00:26:23,640 and it comes through Jesus Christ. Notice how Jesus explains to her who he is, because 225 00:26:23,640 –> 00:26:29,199 he wants her to know. Down, verse 25, the woman said, I know that Messiah called Christ 226 00:26:29,199 –> 00:26:35,739 is coming, and when he comes he will explain everything to us. And Jesus declared, can 227 00:26:35,739 –> 00:26:44,699 you imagine this moment, I who am speaking to you am he. And literally translated what 228 00:26:44,819 –> 00:26:51,959 he actually said to the woman is, I who speak to you, I am. Of course, the words, I am, 229 00:26:51,959 –> 00:26:59,219 were the name that God gave for himself in the Old Testament. So, Jesus is saying to 230 00:26:59,219 –> 00:27:11,560 her, lady, you are looking into the face of God in the flesh. Imagine that. 231 00:27:12,119 –> 00:27:22,300 Now, says Jesus, if you knew the gift of God, if you knew who it is that speaks to 232 00:27:22,300 –> 00:27:31,359 you, here’s what would happen, you would ask. Now, I have to say to you, that if 233 00:27:31,359 –> 00:27:36,219 you can grasp these two simple things, that will be what you will do even this 234 00:27:36,219 –> 00:27:44,619 morning. If you can grasp this gift of God giving his very self, of God giving 235 00:27:44,619 –> 00:27:49,260 you everlasting life, as he comes to share your life and then brings you into 236 00:27:49,260 –> 00:27:55,900 the joy of his life in heaven, if you can grasp that gift of God, and if you see 237 00:27:55,900 –> 00:28:03,079 that Jesus Christ is uniquely God in the flesh, and that he therefore uniquely is 238 00:28:03,079 –> 00:28:08,780 able to bring this gift and release it to you, then when you grasp these two 239 00:28:08,780 –> 00:28:15,520 things there’s absolutely no doubt about what you will do. You would A.S.K. 240 00:28:15,520 –> 00:28:20,400 They say, why do I have to ask? Because what God is offering to you is a relationship, 241 00:28:20,400 –> 00:28:25,000 and a relationship is never imposed. It can be offered, but it must be received, 242 00:28:25,000 –> 00:28:32,680 it must be nurtured, and it must be cultivated. God may offer this to you, but 243 00:28:32,680 –> 00:28:40,000 you must ask, you must receive, you are involved. And then Jesus gives this 244 00:28:40,000 –> 00:28:48,199 marvelous, marvelous promise. You would have A.S.K. He says, if you asked, you 245 00:28:48,199 –> 00:28:56,119 would receive. He would have given it to you. And that is the promise of God today. 246 00:28:56,180 –> 00:29:02,900 If you can grasp the gift that God wants to offer you, you’ve come to see that He 247 00:29:02,900 –> 00:29:08,959 offers it uniquely in and through Jesus Christ, and you come and you say, I see 248 00:29:08,959 –> 00:29:17,680 that, I ask you for it in Jesus name. Then Jesus promise is He will give it to 249 00:29:17,680 –> 00:29:25,920 you, you will receive, God will come to you. Through Jesus Christ the barriers 250 00:29:25,920 –> 00:29:30,439 will be broken. He will come to your life, He will indwell you by the power of His 251 00:29:30,439 –> 00:29:38,719 Spirit, and one day you will enter into His presence. If you knew the gift of God 252 00:29:38,719 –> 00:29:50,640 and who it is that speaks to you, you’d ask, and He would give it to you. Now on 253 00:29:50,640 –> 00:29:54,780 the last day, it’s very interesting when John in the book of Revelation has a 254 00:29:54,780 –> 00:29:58,500 vision of what it will be like at the very, very end of human history, and he 255 00:29:58,500 –> 00:30:04,000 sees the joy into which Christ’s people enter in everlasting life. They go into 256 00:30:04,000 –> 00:30:09,000 the light of the presence of God, and God’s throne comes down and there is 257 00:30:09,000 –> 00:30:14,900 this fellowship between God and His people, and the lamb leads them into 258 00:30:14,900 –> 00:30:20,939 springs of living water. And then immediately afterwards, it talks about 259 00:30:21,020 –> 00:30:26,339 the unbelieving and the vile. There’s a whole long list of descriptions of 260 00:30:26,339 –> 00:30:31,900 those who’ve turned away from the Living God and His wonderful offer, and it 261 00:30:31,900 –> 00:30:37,920 describes how they go to the Lake of Fire, and the picture seems to be that 262 00:30:37,920 –> 00:30:46,180 they actually have a glimpse of the living waters. They actually see the 263 00:30:46,359 –> 00:30:52,900 presence of God and all that it is, and they would long to taste of it for 264 00:30:52,900 –> 00:30:58,880 eternity, but it’s receding from them. It’s receding, it’s receding. They’re 265 00:30:58,880 –> 00:31:05,680 going the other way. I hold that picture in my mind and then think of the words 266 00:31:05,680 –> 00:31:18,199 of Jesus. If you had asked, I would have given. Anyone ready to do some asking 267 00:31:18,199 –> 00:31:25,640 this morning? And if you know this wonderful relationship with God, don’t 268 00:31:25,640 –> 00:31:31,160 you feel a sense of privilege? Don’t you want to go out into the spiritually 269 00:31:31,160 –> 00:31:36,439 confused culture so that people will know what the gift of God really is? 270 00:31:36,439 –> 00:31:44,400 And how it’s found through Jesus Christ and him alone? Let’s pray together. 271 00:31:50,640 –> 00:31:57,619 Let’s thank God right now that he offers to us far, far, far more than an exercise 272 00:31:57,780 –> 00:32:07,420 of the human spirit. He offers us his very self. He’s made a way through Jesus Christ in which 273 00:32:07,420 –> 00:32:16,099 he can come to our lives and we can come into everlasting life with him. He wants 274 00:32:16,359 –> 00:32:25,540 you to have this gift. He wants you to have it through Jesus, but you’ve got to ask. 275 00:32:25,540 –> 00:32:35,459 A relationship has two sides. God will not impose himself or even impose everlasting 276 00:32:35,459 –> 00:32:43,500 life on you. He invites you to come. You might like to make these words of a very 277 00:32:43,500 –> 00:32:52,219 simple prayer your own. Lord I come to you as someone who needs to receive. I 278 00:32:52,219 –> 00:32:59,199 come to you in simple faith believing your promise. I’ve tried many ways to 279 00:32:59,199 –> 00:33:05,699 find life but I can’t find it without you. I long to know your presence in my 280 00:33:06,099 –> 00:33:15,699 life. Cleanse me from my sin and make my heart a place where your spirit can 281 00:33:15,699 –> 00:33:24,739 dwell. Come to me and let your life fill me. Lead me into a new life that will be 282 00:33:24,739 –> 00:33:33,920 for your glory and honour, and on the last day bring me into everlasting life 283 00:33:33,920 –> 00:33:41,780 through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

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Colin Smith

Trustee / Founder and Teaching Pastor

Colin Smith is the Senior Pastor of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He has authored a number of books, including Heaven, How I Got Here and Heaven, So Near – So Far. Colin is the Founder and Teaching Pastor for Open the Bible. Follow him on X formerly Twitter.

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