The American Wisdom Series

Presents
Pamphlet 1504
John chapter 4

True worshippers worship the Father.
They worship Him in "spirit" and "truth".

What is truth? It is the "Word of God".
Yes, Words from Jesus, who is the "Word of God".
All the Words in that little black book, over there, on the coffee table.
They are all His, whether they are Words He said while here on earth "in the flesh", or  Words He gave the prophets, from heaven, while "in the spirit" before coming to earth, or Words He gave to the apostles after his return to heaven.
In John 1:1 He had John write "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".
In Mark 13:23 Mark wrote that Jesus said, "But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things".
In 2 Timothy 2:15 He told Paul to write "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth".

We are going to read a little different version of how the greatest teacher of all time, Jesus Christ, turns water into wine, so to speak. Let's just say He will use that which is natural, thirst for water from a well, to quench one's spiritual thirst for the Living Water of truth, which pure wine is symbolic of. And once she gets a taste of it, she'll be off and running!

Or perhaps we will simply use the analogy of the "sower" since we will have the Seed of Truth Himself doing the planting. Either way, to me it's a miracle!

We continue now with the attempt of the Pharisees to try to instigate controversy within the body of Christ.

John 4:1
When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

[2] (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

[3] He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

[4] And he must needs go through Samaria.

[5] Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

2 Kings 17:24
And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

2 Kings 17:33
They feared the LORD, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.

John 4:6
Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.

"Jacob's well is located at the mouth of the valley Shechem. It is 9 feet in diameter, circular, cut through limestone rock and nearly 100 feet deep. It sometimes has water in it but is often quite dry." (Smith's Bible Dictionary)

[7] There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

[8] (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

[9] Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

[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.

Anyway, now that He has her undivided attention, the Teacher of teachers plants a "seed" of truth fertilized with curiosity in the woman's mind.

Note: Curiosity is a great opener to seed planting. Many times I have said to a person "By the way, remind me sometime and I'll tell you what really happened in the garden of Eden".  Always wait for them to then ask of you, otherwise you might drown the seed with your "excessive watering" of enthusiasm. If you don't know what really happened in the garden of Eden log unto pamphlet #7017

John 4:6
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?

[12] Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

[13] Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

[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.

[15] The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

Now Jesus is going to lead her to the next level of discovery for herself that He is more than just a man at the well. He is that Well, the Living Water.

[16] Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

[17] The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

[18] For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Thinking to herself, "How in the world did he know that?", the woman then says, "You must be a prophet [of God]!" (The 1 800 Psychic Hotline was not up and running in those days.)

[19] The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

So now having been confronted with her sins, does she humbly confess "Yes, what a wicked life I am leading".  Naw, she tries to change the subject. (I can certainly relate to that! "But for the Grace of God, there go I", or in secular terminology, "Been there, done that!") So she replies:

"Sir, I perceive you are a prophet, so perhaps you could resolve this theological question as to who is correct, the Samarians or the Jews, as to the true place of worship?" (She's saying to herself, "Hopefully this will throw Him off track, 'cause let's not go back to the 5 husband thing.")

John 4:20
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

[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.

[22] Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

John 4:23
But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

And how is it that one can worship the Father anytime, anywhere? The answer is in the next verse.

[24] God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

[25] The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things.

John 4:26
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.

Next we"ll see that the woman gets so excited that she leaves her waterpot right there at the well and goes into the city telling everyone about her new found truth!

Been there, done that too!

The truth, the Word of God, is truly that exciting, indeed!

Do you understand sowing and reaping? It was a lesson the disciples of Jesus had to learn from the Master Teacher, the Word of God. Maybe we can all learn something ourselves. After all, are we not His disciples too?

Let's continue our study:  Jesus, who just revealed Himself as Messiah to the woman at the well, right after "reading her mail" and unraveling a controversial theology question, sees the disciples coming back from town.

John 4:27
And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

The disciples were well aware of this Talmudic law and when they got back from town and saw Jesus talking to the woman from Samaria, they probably looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders wondering what's going on.  But at least they had the good common sense not to question Jesus about it!

[28] The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

So into town she goes and sees some men (It doesn't say if any of her 5 x's were there, but wouldn't that have been a hoot? ) and they [the men] intuitively recognized her excitement. (Men are real keen that way when they see a woman's hands speaking faster than her lips.)

[29] Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

[30] Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him.

Rev. 18:4
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

And here's what the Lord says He'll do if you'll come out of religion and seek Him:

2 Cor. 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Meanwhile, as the Sycharites are on their way, the Teacher of teachers is about to enroll the disciples in "Seed Planting 101", and teach them their first lesson!

[31] In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

[32] But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

[33] Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

Note: It takes awhile for some people to be able to read or hear the Word of God and understand that there is a deeper meaning to what is being said.The disciples would go through this experience many times until they are given "eyes to see" and "ears to hear". Whenever Jesus spoke there was always a deeper meaning.

Have you ever read the example in Matthew and Mark when the subject of food, this time bread, came up again?

Here's Christ speaking to the disciples:

Mark 8:15
And He charged them, saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.

[16] And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread.

Want proof?

When Jesus says in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 that there will famine in the time of the end, just before his return, all that most Christians today can think about is the physical, the flesh! They are looking for a FOOD SHORTAGE! They just don't get it! Here it is: Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: "

Let's continue in Mark:

Mark 8:17 And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened?

[18] Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

[19] When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

[20] And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven.

[21] And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

 Let's return to John where the subject is eating.

John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

[35] Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

Verses 34-38 are instructions from Jesus Christ to His disciples! Hello? Are you one of His disciples? Then this is for you!

Take a look around you! The work of Rev. 7, the sealing even of the 144,000 is not finished .So what are you waiting for, the END of summer? There is planting and harvesting to be done NOW!

Read this account again. Remember the disciples were busy going to town grocery shopping and when they came back they spent time trying to get Jesus to eat, BUT Jesus had work to do, His Father's work! And while they were busy with the flesh, Jesus had already converted Nicodemus and the woman at the well. Jesus had both sown the seed and reaped an early harvest! Are you busy with the flesh?

And if you'll take the time to read the Parable of the Tares in the 13th chapter of Matthew you will discover in Christ's simple explanation there that the FIELD is the WORLD. So there are fields abroad and home and everywhere we turn that can be planted and harvested RIGHT NOW!  #7007  "The Parable of theTares"

[36] And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

[37] And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

[38] I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

I like to use the baseball game example. The team has been out there sweating and laboring long and hard and He brings you in with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning (we're in extra innings, call it overtime, as the 4 Winds (Rev. 7) are being held back so we can finish the "sealing" job) to Pinch Hit, and you get a double which scores the winning run. We all celebrate and rejoice together and split the Eternal Bonus Check!!!
#5061The Four Winds INTRODUCTION PART (1)
#5062The Four Winds PART (2)
#5063 The Four Winds PART (3)
#5064The Four Winds PART (4)
#5065The Four Winds PART (5)
#5066The Four Winds PART (6)

By the way, you're up!

[39] And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

[40] So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

[41] And many more believed because of his own word;

[42] And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Do you understand sowing and reaping?

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, continues throughout his Gospel to document that Jesus is indeed God, even the very Word of God.

Next we are going to see the "return of Jesus" to Cana of Galilee, to same locale where the 1st miracle took place.

John 4:43
Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

[44] For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

John 1:11
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Meanwhile, Jesus knows the Galileans will receive Him, so He goes there!

John 4:45
Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

[46] So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

[47] When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea 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.

[48] Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

[49] The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

[50] Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

John 4:51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

[52] Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

Note: ALL the events spoken [written] of by the Word of God will also happen EXACTLY as they are written. Always have, always will!

[53] So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

Now, we could easily draw the analogy of turning water into wine [conversion] again here, but there is an even deeper meaning to this miracle for a couple of reasons, (1.) because it called the "second miracle" and (2.) because it occurred at precisely the "7th" hour. Both are very significant.

[54] This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Let's consider some things:
Jesus' 1st Miracle was to turn water into wine which symbolic of His blood.
Jesus' 1st Advent would be the shedding of His blood.

Then, following that 1st miracle Jesus went out to sow and reap a "harvest" in the field, instructing His disciples to sow and reap the field [world] NOW and not to wait until harvest time, which is what?  The Millennium, the 7th Day, when Christ would return at His 2nd advent.

And how long did He tarry? 2 Days, which is how long it would be from the time of His 1st Advent unto His 2nd Advent, i.e. His return.  (Remember 2 Peter 3:8 "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.") So 2 Days is 2 Thousand years He tarries! Hmm, almost time for Him to return, isn't it?

Then, following the tarrying, He returned!

Jesus' 2nd Miracle then was to bring back alive the nearly dead at the 7th hour.

Jesus' 2nd advent will be to bring back alive the nearly dead [still mortal souls] at the 7th dispensation, the Millennium.

Speaking of signs and wonders, when you read the Word of God with eyes to see and ears to hear, you have to ask yourself:

WILL WONDERS NEVER CEASE?