The Water of Life

worlddic.com

John 4:15

The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.

I. I AM TO TRY TO EXCITE YOUR DESIRE BY A DESCRIPTION OF THIS WATER. Spiritual things must be described by natural analogies. You must have water or you die. So must you have grace. Water is —

1. Thirst removing.

2. Life preserving.

3. Filth purging.

4. Softening. The hardest heart yields before the power of the love of God.

5. Fire quenching. The fire of lust, envy, malice, anger, and unholy desire.

6. Spring creating. Wherever the water of life falls it makes a new spring, and never gets fiat, dull, or dead.

7. Fruit producing in proportion to the quantity we drink.

8. Heaven ascending. Water rises to its level. If we have grace that began with us it will never get higher than ourselves. If grace which the priest gave, no higher than the priest. But the true grace of God comes down from heaven, and will carry us whence it came.

II. TO CHEER YOUR HEARTS WITH SOME REFLECTIONS UPON THE LIKELIHOOD OF YOUR GETTING THIS LIVING WATER. Supposing that you want it.

1. No ordinary man would deny another water. The giving of grace by the Saviour no more than the giving of water by you.

2. If you would refuse water to some, you would not refuse it to the thirsty; and Jesus never refused a thirsty sinner yet.

3. There is plenty of it, and it is free. John speaks of a river. Who fears to exhaust the Thames? The source may be private, but as soon as it gets a considerable stream it becomes a public highway and water supply.

4. It flows on purpose for the thirsty. What could Christ have made an atonement for but for sinners?

5. No one has been refused yet.

6. It is to Christ's glory to give it, and therefore be sure that He will not withhold it. The more a physician cures the greater his fame; the more Christ saves the higher His honour.

III. TO URGE YOU TO PRAY THIS PRAYER. A desire is like seed in the sack, but prayer sows it in the furrow: like water in the bottle, but prayer drinks thereof.

1. Begin, then, by honouring Christ. The woman gave Him the highest title she knew. You call Him "Lord"; for if you reject His divinity you shut yourself out from His kingdom.

2. Confess your undeservingness. "Give," not "sell." Mercy must be given.

3. Make this a personal prayer. "Give it me." Never mind your neighbours or your children just now. Look after their salvation when you are saved.

4. Offer it in the present tense. The worst of most men is that they would serve the devil all their lives and then cheat him of their souls at last. If God be God serve Him now.

worlddic.com