Jesus’ Offer of the Living Water

Transcript

GR 344
1/13/1980
Jesus’ Offer of the Living Water
JOHN 4:1-15
Gil Rugh

John and the fourth chapter in your Bibles. John’s gospel and the fourth chapter. It’s interesting to see the kinds of people Jesus confronted during His earthly ministry, and they end up being the very same kinds of people that we confront. And with chapter 4 we have a person who in many ways is the opposite of the person Jesus talked with in chapter 3. Remember in chapter 3 it was Nicodemus, the religious, moral leader of the people. The one to whom the nation would have looked for guidance. He would have been an example with moral character and his religious convictions.

When you come to chapter 4, we confront a person who is not a moral person but an immoral person. One whose life has been lived in the gutter, so to speak. One who’s religious is an apostate system, contrary to what God had revealed in the Old Testament. One who is trying to satisfy their need to fulfill their life, not by trying to be religious and moral, but by pursuing pleasures and the satisfaction that the world offers in the realm of fleshly indulgences. Jesus picks each of these people up where they are, but the message He communicates to them is the same. I am the Messiah, the Savior, and you must come to believe in Me if you are to have life.

We looked at the end of chapter 3 in our last study and there the attention was given to the ministry of John the Baptist. It’s the close of John’s public ministry as far as recorded material is concerned. He has testified that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. That chapter closed with a strong emphasis on the need for believing in Him because those that believe in Him have life. Those who do not believe in Him are under condemnation and under the wrath of God. Those are the only two positions. Nicodemus, the righteous, moral, good man was under the wrath of God. The woman that we will consider in John chapter 4—immoral, pursuing pleasure, under the wrath of God. Both alike in that context. Important to see the sameness as well as the differences.

Had an interesting discussion on the plane coming home this past Tuesday with a delightful lady sitting in the seat next to me. Her husband and her travelling from California which is their home. And we were involved in a discussion about what the Bible says about salvation, of new life in Christ, and we could not come to an agreement on the fact that those who are so moral and so good are just as lost as those who are immoral and obviously not as good. She would tell you ’You cannot tell me that good people are going to hell.’ I would not tell you that good people are going to hell, but there are no good people. There are only sinners, because the Bible says there are none good, not even one! There is none righteous, not even one. She says ’Well, you will have to define evil and sin for me.’ So I shared with her about man’s rebellion against God. That there is a God who is holy and righteous and He instructs man to do something, and man says I will not—would you not call that evil and sin? And yet God says every single one of us who are in a state of rebellion against Him, determined to do our own thing, determined to establish our own goodness, our own righteousness, and then demanding that God accept it. And we declare ourselves to be good. That is clearly not the case with anyone Jesus talks with. The fact of their sin must be confronted. He doesn’t confront everyone the same way, but the facts in what He confronts them with are the same.

With Nicodemus it was ’You must be born again. You must recognize the need for a new birth. Nicodemus, as good as you are in your own eyes, as righteous as you are in the eyes of the nation, you are unacceptable. You've got to be born again.' For this woman, who has been seeking satisfaction and fulfillment—she's had 5 husbands and is now living in an immoral relationship with a man who is not her husband—Jesus says you can find fulfillment and satisfaction in what I have to offer you. New life and salvation.

The message is the same. I am the Savior, you must believe in Me and you will be brought into a relationship with God and you will have all the fulfillment and satisfaction you so desperately long for.

The chapter opens up, chapter 4, where chapter 3 left off. Remember there has been some conflict that has developed in verses 22-30 between the disciples of John and another Jew. Now when you come to chapter 4 and verse 1, we're told, 'When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (skip down to verse 3) He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee." So this growing awareness of the increasing popularity of Jesus and His ministry. Jesus knows that the Pharisees have become aware, that His ministry is even increasing in popularity beyond John the Baptist's ministry. Now this sets the stage for conflict with the religious leaders. The religious leaders had a jealousy and antagonism with John the Baptist, but it ultimately led to the execution of John the Baptist. Now Jesus knows that these Pharisees, these religious people are aware of the growing popularity of His ministry. The great numbers of people that are beginning to follow Him, so to avoid the conflict at this point He leaves the region. Because it is not God's time for that conduct, that conflict to become full blown that will ultimately result in His execution. So what He is going to do is leave that area, the region of Judea where Jerusalem, the capitol, the center of worship, is. And in leaving that area, He will move away from those who are the religious leaders who are centered in this region. And thus the conflict with them will not be brought to a head at this time. But consistently, the greatest antagonism, the greatest opposition to the ministry of Jesus Christ is by religious leaders. No different today. The greatest opponents to the gospel of Jesus Christ are religious people, and particularly religious leaders. So Jesus is going to remove Himself to the northern region and carry on His ministry there.

Most of His earthly ministry was carried on in Galilee. Galilee is in the northern part of Palestine, removed from Jerusalem. Every time He comes to Jerusalem, there is conflict. Ultimately it will result in His crucifixion. Now, we had that note that we eluded to in verse 2—even though Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John, He Himself does not personally baptize. His disciples did. We noticed this was a baptism like John's—to get ready for the coming kingdom, the coming of Messiah. Repent, change your mind about sin and believe what God has said and be prepared for His Messiah. Now why Jesus Himself did not baptize we are not told. Perhaps it would be to elevate any confusion or question. You can imagine that the people who were baptized by Jesus would naturally think of themselves as greater. 'I was baptized by the Messiah Himself. If anybody, but anybody is saved it is me.' Well, that question was resolved—no one was baptized by Jesus. He did not make a practice of baptizing. Although His disciples did. So it's not to say that it is not important to be baptized. He wouldn't have had His disciples do it if it wasn't. But He Himself did not carry on the practice.

So He leaves Judea and goes into Galilee. Now to go from Jerusalem to Galilee—you know where Palestine is, it's that long narrow strip—then you have Judea and then you have the land of Samaria. Then on top of Samaria, you have Galilee. So to go from Jerusalem in Judea to Galilee, you have to go through Samaria. So we are told in verse 4 that He had to pass through Samaria. That's a geographical note. He had to pass through Samaria—now He didn't have to but He had to. The difference being you could go to Galilee without going through Samaria, but it was about twice as long. Some of the more orthodox Jews to avoid Samaria would cross the Jordan, go up the east side of the Jordan, recross the Jordan into Galilee. That's how great the antagonism between Jew and Samaritan was. But the normal route was to go through Samaria and that was the shortest way. I think that's what is being noted here. It's interesting though—this little verb 'had to'. John uses it through his gospel. It usually refers to a divine necessity. Something that God has made a necessity. I think both are true. Geographically it was the simplest way for Jesus to go to Galilee, and it is also an essential part of God’s plan that Jesus go through Samaria because there is a ministry that His Father intends for Him to carry out in Samaria. "He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob's well was there." Now you can read about this parcel of ground in Genesis chapter 33, verses 18 and 19, Jacob purchased this parcel of ground. Then at the end of his life, just as we do today, he willed it to his son Joseph in chapter 48 of Genesis, verse 22. He gave this parcel of ground to his son Joseph. Later on when the children of Israel will leave Egypt in Joshua 24:32, the bones of Joseph are buried at this place, this parcel of ground. There is a well there called Jacob’s well, still in existence today. Still a functioning well today so its site is pretty well identified. Now Jesus comes to this spot—land of Samaria, near the city of Sychar. And Jesus, in verse 6, "being wearied form His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour." In verse 8 we are told that the disciples had gone into the city to buy food. The well was about a half mile from the city of Sychar. The disciples have gone into the city to buy food. Jesus, exhausted from the journey, is relaxing at the well. I think it's interesting in a gospel that the thrust is to emphasize and stress the deity of Jesus Christ, there is the clear presentation of the full humanity of Jesus Christ as well. Here is the eternal Son of God sitting at Jacob’s well exhausted from His labors from His trip. It’s an encouraging note. We’re told in verse 4 that He had to pass through Samaria. We noted that often stresses the divine necessity, it's the plan of God. Even in the plan of God there is often weariness, toilsome exhausting labor. There is much stress today that when you are in the will of God everything is happy, happy, happy. It's not hard work, its fun work. I wonder what we would have thought when we saw Jesus sitting here exhausted. I know that doesn't mean that He didn't enjoy doing His Father's work, but it ought to encourage us. You can be serving the Lord, toiling for the Lord and you may be totally exhausted. It would probably be a healthy thing for us if more of us were exhausted in the work of the Lord. Not from staying up too late with our favorite program now, but for our service for the Lord.

It's interesting to me that in spite of the fact it's here about 6:00 in the evening (at the end of verse 6, it's the sixth hour) and we noted that John uses Roman time. You may have a note in your Bible that this would be 12:00 noon—that's Jewish time. If we were on the Jewish time, they go from 6 to 6, so the sixth hour would be from 6:00 in the morning to 12:00 noon. I think John uses Roman time—we'll talk about this in detail down in chapter 19 so it would be 6:00 in the evening, as we would calculate from 12 to 12. He’s sitting here tired, weary from the trip, but He is not too tired to carry on the ministry that God has for Him. He's not too tired to talk to this woman about the need of her soul. He's not too tired to talk to the people of the town who will flock to Him shortly. He's never too tired, but He is human just like we are. Did you ever sit and sense that you might have the opportunity to talk to someone about the Lord, but you just felt so tired it just seemed like so much work you just didn't know if you could bring yourself to it? I think perhaps Jesus, humanly speaking, was in that situation here. Exhausted, and yet about the work God had called Him to do. I think we pamper ourselves today. We hear so much about the need for relaxing, so much about the need for resting, so much about the need for vacationing. I think we pamper ourselves often as believers to an unhealthy extent.

At any rate, let's go on. Verse 7. "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give Me a drink.'" And then you have that note where the disciples are, and then verse 9. "The Samaritan woman therefore said to Him, ’How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?' (and we have a little note here) For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." We don't involve ourselves with one another. And here a Jewish man asking me a Samaritan woman for a drink of water? Unthinkable? How could you do such a thing?

You remember the background for the Samaritans? Back in 2 Kings chapter 17. The Assyrians came down and conquered the northern part of Israel. Israel had divided into the north and south—Judah in the south and 10 Tribes in the north. Judah and Benjamin in the south. The 10 Tribes in the north are conquered by the Assyrians, and the Assyrians followed a practice of deportation. When they conquered a region, they took most of the people out of that territory and relocated them in another part of the empire. And brought people from another part of their empire into this region. The rationale being that there would be less chance of people causing rebellion if they were living in a strange land. There is more attachment to your home land, more danger that you begin to get the feelings 'We've got to fight for our land. This is our home, this is our city,' and you begin to foment rebellion. But if you're living in a strange land with a strange people, there is less chance of you trying to cause trouble, so they practiced these mass deportations. Thousands and thousands of people being moved from one place to another.

Now what the Assyrians did when they conquered the northern tribes—this would include the region of Samaria—they took the bulk of Jews out of that area and put them in another part of the empire, then brought some other peoples and settled them here. You can read about these peoples in 2 Kings 17:24 and following. Now, these people settled. There were some of the poorer Jews left in the land and they would intermarry with these foreign peoples brought in—non-Jews. Also, these people asked that they could have a priest from Israel because they wanted to be sure they wanted to keep the god of this land happy. So they would simply worship this god along with all their other gods. What happened is that they ended up with their own religious system—a corrupted form of Judaism. So you had this mixed people—Jews mixed with foreign peoples—with this mixed religion. And it exists down to today. There are still a couple hundred Samaritans in existence with a center of worship over on Mt. Gerzim. They have what they call the Samaritan Pentateuch, which is a corruption of the first five books of Moses and there are similarities in what they believe, but they are a corrupted form of Old Testament worship.

So these groups of people had nothing to do with one another. Great antagonism. Ezra chapter 4. Ezra came back to the land after the Babylonian captivity to rebuild the temple, and these people in Samaria wanted to help.
Ezra told them they had no part in what we are doing. You have no share in this ministry. Tremendous antagonism down to the days of Jesus.

Now the way Jesus answers the question is to drive home the need that is in existence. Note the two points He’s going to make—basically the same point He makes in every situation. Who He is and what He does. He is the Savior who provides salvation for all who believe. The message is so simple. Note verse 10, "Jesus answered and said to her, ’If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ’Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given to you."' You note two things—if you knew the gift of God, and who it is, who says to you 'give Me a drink'. The gift of God I take it as it is developed here is the living water. It’s the Holy Spirit and the salvation that He provides. And who it is, who says to you, who is talking to you. If you knew who I am, the Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, you would know that from Me and Me alone you can secure salvation. Living water. Now it's interesting, Jesus often uses analogies that can be understood in two ways. Here He uses water, and this woman understands it as physical water. Here she is at Jacob’s well. Now He talks about living water, and so she says ’Living water.’ Now that’s not so surprising because the word here could mean a spring of water. And she said to Him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?" Down at the bottom of this well you find the spring that is the source of this water. Now how are you going to get down there and get it? You don’t even have anything to draw from. You just asked me for a drink. And now you're bragging to me that you can give me water. "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You..." The Samaritans will tie back to the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And they would declare themselves to be the descendants. They had corrupted the five books of Moses so that they would have authority for their own worship. "You’re not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" I mean, Jacob is one of the fathers. He’s one of the patriarchs. You’re not greater than Jacob? You don’t think you could give us a better well than Jacob gave us, do you? Jacob dug this well. Jacob himself drank of this well. You think you can provide a better well? One with better water?

"Jesus answered and said to her, ’Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; BUT the water that I shall give him quenches thirst forever.’" She’s having a hard time. Down in verse 15 she’s still wrestling with it.
"The woman said to Him, ’Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw.’" That’s a long way to have to walk just for a little bucket of water every day, half mile out, half mile back. We complain when we have to go up the stairs to get a drink of water. We’re looking for someone in the family—’Hey will you get me a drink while you're up there?' She had to walk a half mile both ways. This would be great! Give me some of this water! She's not seeing the connection. That we're not talking about the same kind of water. We're not talking about the same thing.

Jesus did this back in chapter 2 of John, verse 19—when He said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They thought He meant Herod's temple. But in verse 21 "He was speaking of the temple of His body." He uses a concept that could be understood in two ways. And the unbelievers often miss the point. Chapter 3 with Nicodemus. Verse 3 Jesus said 'You must be born again.' Nicodemus in verse 4 says 'How can I be born again? Can I get back in the womb?' The two kinds of emphasis.

Now over in chapter 4, 'Living water quenches thirst forever.' Let me have a drink and I won't have to come to the well any more. But that's not the kind of water that I am talking about.

Verse 10, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you,
'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.'" Verse 14, "whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." So what Jesus is talking about here is living water. Now a word that means 'a spring of water,' bubbling up, always fresh. There is always more. It is a continual supply of water. And it meets the need. The analogy is used consistently. Often Old and New Testament alike. Just as when you're thirsty there is a longing, a desire that needs to be fulfilled. Now in this country we really don't get thirst, thirst. We don't have the appreciation for water to the same extent that they would in arid regions like the Middle East where the supply of water is so crucial and necessary. We take it for granted here. It's some- thinking, though, when you're thirsty. Just the limited about of thirst we have experienced. How your body really longs for a drink. I hate to even use this analogy—some of you are going to be thinking how thirsty you are from here on! We know when our body cries out for something. That's the analogy in the spiritual sense that He is making. Our souls cry out for a fulfillment.
Something to satisfy them. A longing that is there. And Jesus is claiming to be able to satisfy that longing. It is an inner longing. Now you'll note. People often have not identified this need. This woman does not indicate any special awareness that she has a lack. She has been trying to fulfill it with the lifestyle that she lives. But she has maybe succeeded in making herself numb to the need. But the need is just as real. My discussion I eluded to earlier on the plane this week...spent the bulk of the time trying to cause this person to realize the greatness of the need that they had not been felt yet. They had become numb to it by other activities and involvements, and thus were insensitive to the greatness of the need. And it's still there. It's still there, and they are attempting to satisfy it with that which does not ultimately quench. This concept of living water is not new.

The Old Testament is saturated with the analogy of the water. We'll just look in one book, and one other book! Isaiah first. And then one reference I can't leave out! Go to the book of Isaiah. We'll just look at a sampling in Isaiah—3 in Isaiah and 1 in Jeremiah. Isaiah chapter 12, verse 2. "'Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, He has become my salvation.' Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." There you see the analogy? The springs of salvation. You draw water from that. What does that mean? You share the salvation that God has provided you. You partake of that salvation just as you do water. As you partake of it, it is satisfying and quenching for the thirst of the soul, the inner need and desire.

Look over in Isaiah chapter 44. We saw this reference earlier in our study, John chapter 3, in connection with being born of water and of the spirit. Here the water is identified as the Spirit. In verse 3 of Isaiah 44, "I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants; and they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.™
That picture of the pouring out of refreshing water which the Holy Spirit.
And the Holy Spirit gives life and the result of that is spiritual health and prosperity. Poplars. We've got poplars in our back yard. Those things spring up everywhere. If I let them go I'd have more poplars than grass.
Wouldn't be a lot of poplars but I don't have much grass anyway!

Chapter 55 of Isaiah denotes the abundance. Chapter 55 is a key. How much would you be willing to pay for this water? It's free. Interesting way He puts it. "Come and buy" but there's no cost. Interesting. "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance." So this satisfying of the basic needs of the hunger and thirsting of the soul. God says 'Oh how foolish. Why do you invest so much of your life in that which is not satisfying? That which has no eternal value? Why? I want to offer you that which is satisfying in the ultimate sense. Fullness of life right here and now.' You know it's amazing. People say 'I want to enjoy life now, then I get ready for heaven.' I shared with this person in my discussion this week—you know you really can't live, you’re not ready to die. And I said you know if this plane would go down, I'm ready She said, 'Oh don't say that! I'm not!' I said, Oh you're either very fortunate or very unfortunate. You're very fortunate if it's not God's time for me— then we're going safely. But you're very unfortunate if it's God's time for me—we're going! You know, you're not ready. You can't enjoy life. I'm not just prepared for eternity. I'm prepared for now. The fullness of life. The completeness of life. The vitality of life. I have it by virtue of partaking of what God provides. Look over in Jeremiah chapter 2. You see the tragedy that Isaiah eluded to in Isaiah 55 where they spend money on that which does not satisfy. And note in Jeremiah 2:13, "My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters..." That's what Jesus is talking about. If you knew the gift of God and the One who is talking to you. God's gift, eternal life, living waters. Me, the Messiah, the Savior, the One who can give it to you. They have forsaken the fountain of living water. "To hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." People reject the living God and the salvation that He offers and they try to construct their own god. But you know it's a god that's a broken pot. It can't hold any water. There is no satisfaction there. There is no satisfying of the thirst of the soul there. Sometimes a numbness by thinking it's alright, but you know there has been no satisfaction. The need has not been met. It's just as real. And how people love to hew their own cisterns, their own water pots.

In our discussion this came up, Oh everybody has their own god. I mean the Buddhist worships, I worship, you worship. Yes, but you've constructed a broken cistern. The only god of any value is the God who can meet the need of my soul, the One who can save me. The One who can give me new life. But people consistently turn from the living God, the living water, to make a god for themselves which is a god that cannot satisfy.
Back to the gospel of John. This concept of water is carried through the prophets. Revelation carries it out. But back in John chapter 7 just to see the identification made in the same kind of context. Verse 37, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.'" Same kind of offer and invitation. Come to Me and drink, if you are thirsty. He who believes in me. What does it mean to come and drink of Christ? He who believes in me— that's what it means. To believe in Him. To believe that He is the Savior of the world, the Son of God, who died to pay the penalty for your sin. "As the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit that those who believed in Him were to receive." The promise of the Spirit. The Spirit is this fountain of living waters, and He resides within the one who believes. Romans chapter 8 verse 9 says 'Anyone who does not have the Spirit of God does not belong to Jesus Christ.' What happens? You come to believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and you know what happens? God Himself comes and takes up residence in your life. The Spirit of God dwells there and He meets that inner need. He fulfills that inner longing. And it's important to note—it is a spring, it is a river. It bubbles forth. It is a constant source, not just a time and then another time and then another time. Come back to John chapter 4 and see how Jesus develops this. In verse 14 He says "whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." This denotes that the salvation that you receive by faith in Jesus Christ is a final salvation. It satisfies forever. I never ever need to be saved again. You'll note—you never thirst. "The water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water," a bubbling spring leading to eternal life. This ought to say something about the emphasis of people looking for more or additions in their Christian life today. Oh, if you only had this experience your life would be full. God tells me that the Spirit of God dwells in me. He is a bubbling fountain and you tell me I need something else? That's contrary to what He says here. He doesn't say to the Samaritan woman, 'Oh, if you come to believe in me, it'll be great and wait until you get the subsequent blessing!' Not at all. You have everything! And you note, it's an inner provision! You know the difference of what the world offers to numb us and what Christ offers to satisfy us? The world's is in the external. What Christ offers is internal. It's within you a well of water. The world offers all kinds of externals to take up our time and attention, to occupy us. To give us something to live for, to give us purpose in life. But it's all external. It’s all on the outside. It numbs us often to the awareness of the inner need.

You know, I've found that the people who are the most satisfied, often who have accomplished the most in the world are the most difficult to reach because they have succeeded in numbing themselves to the true, spiritual meaning of the inner man.

Here Jesus says 'I will provide something that will satisfy, truly satisfy.' It is an inner satisfaction. Something that cannot be affected by external activity. Something that cannot be taken away by external tragedy. I have the Spirit of God dwelling in me. And it's as I allow Him to bubble forth, He produces the character of Christ in me. That's all I need for this life and for eternity. Amazing how the world pursues and seeks after things which cannot satisfy. Even as this woman at the well did. There's a song taken from it—the woman at the well. I was seeking for things that could not satisfy. That's what she was doing. She didn't know she wasn't satisfied. When she got her next husband, oh yes, this is what I've been needing. Now life fits together. Soon, no, I need something else. And then something else. Now she's living with a man who is not her husband. Soon that would wear off. That's what the pleasures of the world do. I need greater challenges. I need new exposures. I need new opportunities. It's never enough. It's like getting something new—it's great until it gets old. But what Christ offers me never gets old. His salvation is constantly fresh, constantly refreshing.

Jot down Ecclesiastes chapter 5, maybe you'd better turn to Ecclesiastes 5. You ought to read the book of Ecclesiastes periodically—not every day. It's liable to lead to depression! But you ought to read it often enough to remind you of true values. Here you have one of the most successful men the world has ever known. One of the wealthiest men the world has ever known. The wisest man the world has ever known. And you have an unhappy man. And in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 what he has done with his great wisdom is he has cut through the things the world offers to numb us and sees them as they really are, something that, often we don't do.

Verse 10 of Ecclesiastes 5, "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity." Emptiness. I once had a professor who described it as soap bubbles. They grow up and they sparkle. Sometimes the colors reflect off of them. You grab them and you don’t have anything! That's what he’s saying. This is a soap bubble. The one who loves money isn't satisfied when he gets money. The one who loves abundance isn’t satisfied with his income.

I recently read a book by one of the very wealthy politicians and leaders in this country. And interesting. This man acquired all his wealth and then he had to go off on another pursuit. When he had accomplished something there pretty soon he was off on another pursuit, on another pursuit, and his life was one thing after another. We'd say, humanly speaking, one success after another. But the frustration of having accomplished it, I have to move on to something else because it provides no real satisfaction—the challenge was in getting there. But there's no satisfaction. And that's what he is talking about. And in chapter 5 Solomon goes on very bluntly. To verse 13, "There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun; riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt. When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him. As he had become naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came. He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand. This is a grievous evil." Note what Solomon says. Here is the wealthiest man in the world perhaps and he says ’This is tragic. I can’t pack anything to take with me.’ ’’Exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So, what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?" Isn’t it amazing how we give our life for nothing? Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t work hard. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with acquiring things. I’m saying we need to be careful if that is the goal of our life. That’s not what satisfies the longing of the soul. That's not what gives fulfillment in life. Only Jesus Christ can.

Come back to Revelation chapter 3. Same kind of situation. Jesus confronts the church at Laodicea, and you know what? They thought they were alright.
They were numb. Not satisfied. Satisfied in a sense, but the need had not been met. Verse 17. "Because you say, ’I am rich, and have become wealthy and have need of nothing,’ (material prosperity here, that complacency that comes from an artificial satisfaction) and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked." What a tragedy! For the world to be wretched, poor, blind, naked and yet not know it. "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see." Buy from Me. What’s the cost? Isaiah 55:1, "Buy with no money." It’s free. God says ’I've purchased it for you. The salvation that I offer is at no cost.’

I wonder. What do you give your life to? Even us as believers it's tragic. Often so tragic that we claim to have come to believe in Him. We have that which truly satisfies, then we proceed to give our life to those things which are of no value, which are of no importance, which have no significance as far as eternity is concerned. And we wonder why our children become like they do. They see our values. We claim one thing and we live for another. What a tragedy that we who have that which satisfies on the inside, live for that, give our life totally to the pursuit of that which God says is emptiness, is vanity.

Let me read you two different passages in Psalms. You can jot them down and read them at your leisure. Psalm 16:11, "In your presence is fullness of joy; In thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." God doesn’t want me to be unhappy. He wants to give me all the happiness, and peace and joy that only He can give.
Psalm 107:8,9:"Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, the hungry soul He has filled with what is good." There’s only one person who can meet the need of your soul, who can satisfy the longing of that inner person and that’s Jesus Christ. He’ll satisfy your thirst. He’ll satisfy your hunger. Something that pleasures cannot do. Things cannot do. That friends cannot do. Only He can do it. Like He said to the woman, "If you knew the gift of God and the One who speaks to you, you would have asked and He would have given to you." All you have to do is believe. He is the Son of God who died for you. If you’ll believe in Him, He promises to cleanse you from your sin, have the Spirit himself come and take up residence in your life, to be a spring bubbling up to satisfy you in this life and for all eternity, that you might be the person that God desires you to be. Let's pray together....

Father, we thank you for the greatness of your love for us. Father, we a people numbed by our sin so often. Lord, unaware, ignorant of the greatness of our need; that in love you reached down and laid hold of us. Thank you for the greatness of the salvation you provided that can satisfy the inner person, the longing of a soul. Father, pray for any who are here who have yet to partake of these living waters. That even now the Spirit might open the eyes of their understanding. That they might see themselves of those with such great need and see Jesus Christ as the only One who can meet that need. That they might believe in Him and His death for them.

Lord, for those of us who have, what a travesty that we should live in the pursuit of vanity, of emptiness. May our lives manifest our values, that we really do know and understand that we have life in Christ and that above all things is of value and worth, and we pray in Jesus' name. . .