148 - Meeting Jesus, Your Life Will Never Be the Same#
148 - Meeting Jesus, Your Life Will Never Be the Same
(JP Text Group - Grace Grass Compilation)
Alright, today we will look at our text.
The content of John chapter 4, verses 3-14, our topic is called "Meeting Jesus, Your Life Will Never Be the Same." In John chapter 4, verses 3-14, we should ideally read the entire chapter, but since the scripture is too long, we will read up to verse 14 for now. Let’s read the Bible together.
3 He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria, 5 so he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Now, let’s start with a prayer:
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for loving us so much. We know that if we had not met Jesus in our lives, our lives would truly be in chaos. Jesus, thank You for allowing me to meet You. I know it was not I who found You, but You who found me. You have been waiting for my life to turn back to You, just like the Samaritan woman today.
Jesus, I know there are many problems in my life, but You are still there waiting for me to seek You. Today, I come before You with my needs and my problems, and I believe Jesus, You are already waiting for me, because You want to give me Your answers. You are waiting for me to call upon You, and You will give me Your strength.
As a new week begins, I want to come before You first to receive Your strength, let Your strength become my strength, let the water from this spring flow out of me, filled with joy and strength, and I completely surrender this time to You. Holy Spirit, please personally guide every brother and sister, in the name of Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen! Hallelujah!
In our lives, we will meet many people. Some say that when you meet a benefactor in business, your life will be different, right? Others say that if you are a student and you meet a good teacher, your life will be different, right? Or if you have a very high-quality group of friends in your interpersonal relationships, your life will also be different. Conversely, if you are born into a life with a group of slum children and live with robbers, wouldn’t your life also be different?
So do you want your life to be truly chaotic and different? Or do you really want what Jesus said, that He wants to give you the living water of His life, allowing you to live a different life? So what do we really need to consider in our lives? I want to live a different life, a life like Jesus, Hallelujah!
Jesus never said, “Oh! I’m so troubled, I have no way to solve this.” That’s human thinking; there is always a solution with Jesus. Even if you say “It’s over,” Jesus will say “It is finished.” Amen! In English, it’s called “It’s finished.” Didn’t Jesus say “It is finished” on the cross? That word can also be translated as “It’s over,” and those who do not believe in Jesus translate it as “It’s over.”
So we often hear people say “It’s over, it’s over, it’s over… now it’s dead.” But when you come to Jesus, He says “It is finished.” Who made it finished? He did it for you, Amen! If you have not met Jesus, life is full of “It’s over, it’s over, it’s over.” But if you meet Jesus and let Him be in your life every day, Jesus says every day, “I have finished it for you, I have finished it for you, I have finished it for you,” so your life will never be the same.
When I was young, I particularly liked to listen to stories. I believe there are many people among us today who also particularly like to listen to stories, right? Have you read the entire content of John chapter 4? You have, right? Well, I want to share a story with you today. Look at the picture in front of you. Isn’t it Jesus by Jacob’s well, meeting the Samaritan woman?
You can imagine that the Samaritan woman was dressed very fashionably and was very beautiful, right? One thing everyone should know is that when you want to seduce a man, you must have the capital, haha! Just kidding! So don’t imagine the Samaritan woman as particularly ugly; she was not like that; she was very beautiful, right?
Well, under that beautiful face, she had many sorrows and many needs in her life that were not fulfilled, so she particularly longed to find satisfaction from men. What we want to tell everyone here is that in that special era, women were not allowed to enter many industries. So when a woman did not have a man, her life was very miserable, which is why there were many prostitutes in that era.
But this woman was not a prostitute; she just had many husbands. In her heart, she always longed for a love that could satisfy her, right? Unfortunately, she searched and searched but never found it. So now, keep this picture in your mind, and you can also meditate with me. I want to tell you that there is a story. Now you can close your eyes and listen to me tell you this story...
In a village, there was a woman patiently waiting. She wanted to wait until the sun reached its highest point because she did not want to meet any women in the village, as she had done something that they all hated. She knew they hated her, and she could no longer bear the gossip and malicious comments from those women, the disdainful looks. A few weeks ago, when she went to the well to draw water, she heard other women whispering and warning their husbands to stay away from her.
“You see, that woman, she is a seductress.”
Someone whispered, “Do you know? She has had five husbands.”
Another woman echoed, “The one she is living with now is not her husband.”
They began to make all kinds of baseless accusations against this woman, fueled by their own insecurities.
“She is a promiscuous woman.”
“She steals men’s hearts.”
“Don’t be deceived by her innocent eyes and charming smile”...
Various versions of her infidelity quickly spread throughout the village, devouring the little dignity she had left. Soon, she became the loneliest person in the village, with no one willing to befriend her. Since she arrived in that village, she tried every possible way to hide her past, but the news still spread. No one was willing to listen to her explanations; everyone only remembered her past: she had five husbands, and the man she was with now was not her husband; she was a third party.
Many days passed, and she did not speak to any woman. Why? Because her story of having five men spread rapidly through various versions in that village. To protect herself and avoid further contact with other women, she chose to come to the well every day at the hottest time of the day. Because all the women would not come at that time; they would come in the cool morning to draw water. So she preferred to endure the scorching sun at noon rather than face the ridicule and mockery of others. From that time on, she came quietly every day, and no one met her, and then she quietly returned...
So this is the situation of the woman you see now, but today is a special day. She did not know that her life was about to change. She was waiting for the sun to reach its peak, but she did not know that the Righteous Sun - Jesus, was already waiting for her by the well, Hallelujah!
So without Jesus, this woman’s life would continue like this every day, hoping for the Righteous Sun to rise to its highest point, and then she would go out when no one was around. But Jesus came, and so Jesus changed this woman’s entire life.
Just now, I particularly told you a phrase: “You see - this woman.” This is our society now. When a little problem of yours is exposed, others will say, “Look at this woman, look at what this person has done.” Various accusations, various condemnations, various humiliations. In fact, who doesn’t make mistakes in life? People do not look at whether this matter is right or wrong, and then they start to recklessly accuse based on their own opinions.
Jesus sat by the well; He knew the woman’s inner pain. He knew what the woman needed most, so He began to wait for her to appear. So the verse we just read, verse 4, says, ‘He had to go through Samaria,’ this is Jesus’ love.
In fact, when we look at the map, we know that Jesus came from Judea to Galilee, with Galilee being the farthest north and Judea being the farthest south. The middle part He had to go through is called Samaria. At that time, Samaritans were looked down upon by Jews, treated like dogs, so they would rather take a longer route than go through the city of Samaria.
This is the situation of us worldly people; we are already looked down upon by the world, and yet we attack each other. So Jesus did not want to see this situation happen again. Jesus is the Son of God; He loves every person in the world, Amen! Even if He sees people attacking each other, He does not want to participate in the attack; He wants to give His love to these people. Because Jesus knows that the real solution to their problems is to give them love, Hallelujah! So at that time, Jesus had to go through Samaria.
I remember a while ago, I shared with you all in the group, I said everyone should meditate on why it was “must”? Because Jesus did not want to take the longer route; He wanted to save the people in this city, Amen! So at that time, He had to go through Samaria, and the first problem He wanted to solve was to solve this woman’s problem. Was this woman very unique in this city? Everyone in the city looked down on her and knew her problems, all criticizing her, but only Jesus accepted her.
So brothers and sisters, this is our Jesus. When the woman came to the well at noon, she did not expect that a Jewish man would appear there, because this was something that could not possibly happen, yet it really happened.
And at this moment, Jesus said to the woman, “Will you give me a drink?” Just think about it; this is the reality of our human situation. We have already been hurt, right? We are already very insecure, but we still look down on others. What does this woman say? “You are a Jew; why do you ask me for a drink?” Wow, do you see? So many people exclude you, and now a man says, “Please give me a drink,” and he says “please,” which is very polite.
So Jesus is a very gentlemanly man, right? “Ma’am, may I have some water, please?” At this moment, the woman says, “You are a Jew; what right do you have to ask me for a drink?” Wow, many times, if we really put aside our pride, we will encounter many warm moments in life.
At this moment, Jesus is so wonderful; He is truly a very good and kind God. So Jesus did not say, “Oh, who are you, woman? How dare you speak to me like this? I have been very polite to you today; is there anyone in this village who is so polite?” No, right? No, Jesus never blamed this woman; He was very gentle. Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
What do we see?
Jesus’ words are very convoluted, aren’t they? It’s like, “If I ask you for a drink, if you knew who I was, you would have to ask me for a drink, right? If you had asked me earlier, I would have given you.” That’s roughly the meaning, right?
Actually, when I started reading, I thought, wow, why are these words so convoluted! I wrote this down for everyone to see. This is Jesus’ answer, ‘If you knew the gift of God.’
So brothers and sisters, do you know what the gift is? Why has this woman always sought satisfaction and love from men? Why does she have such an attitude towards Jesus today? Because she does not know the gift of God, Amen! A person who does not know the gift of God will not find satisfaction, joy, or the true meaning of life in this world, just like a drifter.
So brothers and sisters, do you know the gift of God? What is the gift of God? At first, I read it many times, and I didn’t understand. Lord, what is the gift of God? What does it have to do with water? Actually, it’s very simple. Jesus’ first sentence, ‘If you knew the gift of God’ and ‘who it is that asks you for a drink,’ these two are saying the same thing.
The gift of God in the original text uses another word called “gift.” If you knew the gift of God and ‘who it is that asks you for a drink,’ Jesus emphasizes that the gift of God refers to God’s gift, right? Who is this gift? That’s right, I didn’t ask what this gift is; you might want to say it’s living water. You see, I directly gave you a question close to the answer. This gift, this present, who is it? It is Jesus, right?
So now who is the one asking you for a drink? It is also Jesus, right? What does Jesus mean? The Savior, He wants to save His people from sin, how? Save them. Isn’t that Jesus’ meaning? So brothers and sisters, do you know what kind of person Jesus is standing before you? He is a Savior, Amen! He asks you for a drink; simply put, He wants to give you His living water because His name is so special; it’s about giving, giving, giving; He is God’s gift to us, Amen! So does this woman know that Jesus is God’s gift to her? No, so she says, “You are a Jew; why do you ask me for a drink?”
In fact, we see that if we do not know that it is God’s gift, many problems are like this. Do you know that your wife is a gift from God? Do you know that your husband is a gift from God? Do you know that your children are a gift from God? If you knew, you would say, “Wow! This is a gift from God!” You wouldn’t say, “You are mine; you must listen to me; otherwise, I will deal with you.” Isn’t that troublesome? It becomes very irritable.
Because she does not know it is God’s gift, she does not recognize who the person asking her for a drink is. So today we need to tell the world about Jesus, tell them that God’s gift - Jesus, has come to you today. Do you want to accept Him? This is the first question. The second is, do you know who Jesus is? Who is the one asking you for a drink? Isn’t it that Jesus finally told her, “I am the Messiah, the one speaking to you.” Amen!
Earlier, Jesus posed the question, and later Jesus gave the answer. So brothers and sisters, when Jesus wants to ask you a question, He will definitely give you the answer because this question is the problem in this woman’s life. If this woman solves these two questions, her problems in life will be solved, Amen! So when Jesus wants to solve your problems, He often starts from the most fundamental issues.
Many times, we only see the surface of the problem. For example, this person has a bad temper; he is unreasonable. In fact, we will find that his real problem is that he just wants to get your attention. I want to illustrate this from children; isn’t it obvious? Especially if you have two children, the older one always finds trouble. Do you know why? Because you always hold the younger one, and the older one feels forgotten, so he cries, he makes a fuss, he says this is not good, he says, “Mom, I want this and that.” In fact, he does not want those things; do you know what he wants? He wants your love because he feels neglected.
And this woman has actually become a public figure, right? She is a textbook example; her life can no longer show her face outside because she has people stabbing her in the back. What does she long for? She longs to have the courage to face life, to live fearlessly every day, and to find a kind of satisfaction, a love that satisfies her, Amen!
This is her inner problem, so Jesus says, “Do you know? Do you know who I am? Do you know I am God’s gift to you?” If this woman knew, “Wow! So you are God’s gift to me!” she would immediately find satisfaction, and she would receive the most beautiful love, Amen! And she would truly have the courage to live.
In the end, did the woman change? We see in verse 29, she left her water jar, went back to the town, and said to the people.
Brothers and sisters, do you see this Jesus? When you understand who Jesus is, you will be filled with power. The past things that made you feel very inferior and ashamed will be completely thrown behind you. This woman ran back to the town and spoke to the people. How did she treat the people before? That’s right, she hid; when you walk past, I will walk past too; I can’t talk to you; you are too harsh, always blaming me. And now look at what this woman has become? She runs into the town and says, “Come and see!” Who does she want them to see? Answer: See Jesus. That’s right.
Brothers and sisters, do you remember the story I told you at the beginning? That group of people said, “You see…” See who? See the woman’s corruption, see the woman’s shortcomings. So we should not be like that group of gossiping women; that is very scary. What do we say in common sayings? Three women make a what? Is it a good show? What kind of show? It’s probably similar to that group of women, right?
“Oh, you know that so-and-so’s family, right? Their man is not a good thing.”
Just these kinds of shows, right? But you see, such words can cause harm to many people. Didn’t this woman fall into this trap and feel completely exposed?
So brothers and sisters, we should not say, “Oh, look at so-and-so, how, how.” What should you say? You should say, “Come and see!” Let’s see who? That’s right, if...
We have more sisters in our church. If you three sisters are together, you should say, “Come and see.” Anyone who comes among you should be shown Jesus, Amen! In such a situation, you can always bring courage, satisfaction, and joy to others, Hallelujah!
In fact, the whole village of people, these women, were too quick to speak, resulting in this woman being unable to go out at all, unable to face life. But you see, when she met Jesus, her life was no longer the same, Amen! She ran into the town and said, “Come and see, there is a man who told me everything I ever did.”
Wow, now you don’t need to say it; I’ve said it. You know, when a person can face their past openly, what does it prove? She has overcome, Amen! She has been released. We carefully cover up our mistakes, but in fact, you have not walked out of there, just like this woman at first, she tried every possible way to cover up her mistakes, but in the end, it was still dug out, and after being dug out, she was harshly criticized, wasn’t she? Until she met Jesus, her life was turned around.
Now let’s see how Jesus gave this woman such great courage to face her past. In fact, many people in our lives have a bad past, right? Almost everyone inevitably has done many regrettable things in the past that make them feel ashamed, or they think, “Why did I do that?”
But now Jesus allows you to face all of this calmly and to overcome it, just like this victorious person, to face your current life. Two points: The first point is that you need to know the gift of God - Jesus, Amen! The second point is that you need to understand who the one asking you for a drink is.
Then Jesus immediately said, ‘Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life,’ this is Jesus. How does Jesus’ water come? It is given, brothers and sisters, do you know what it means to be given? It is the gift we just talked about, Amen! Jesus gives His living water as a gift freely to you, just like this woman, now in this place,
Jesus says, “Do you want my living water?”
Then this woman says, “Sir, please give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus says, “I am not giving you this water; what kind of water is it? It is the water of life that allows you to face your life calmly, allowing you to overcome any problems in your life, Amen! This is Jesus, and what we lack most in this world is this. If you do not know Jesus, you do not know who He is, you will look for water in the wrong places, looking for satisfaction, looking for love, looking for life. In fact, without Jesus, you cannot find lasting satisfaction; only Jesus’ water can make you never thirst again, Amen!
In fact, this woman behind it, the main reason is that she has always been looking for satisfaction, looking for love. However, we see how Jesus helps this woman. Is life really not careful enough? Today we talk about it; we do not say Jesus’ era; in that era, a woman who divorced her husband would be called what kind of woman? An unfaithful woman, right? Some even say she is a harlot, that’s right. Moreover, how many times has she divorced? Five times.
Now we do not talk about that era; just say if you have a woman around you who has divorced five times, what is your impression of her? Haha, you see, don’t say it was Jesus’ era, such a conservative era; just say today if you have a friend who has divorced five times, if she says, “Introduce me to a husband.” What will you think? “Oh, let’s wait and see.” Because you are not sure if she can make it, right?
Brothers and sisters, this is exactly how the people in the village viewed this woman. So under such careless living, people felt that this woman had problems. But is it really only this woman’s problem? Things are not one-sided, Amen! If it were only this woman’s problem, it would be easy; this woman is really terrible. If she were really such a woman, she would not search again and again.
But the problem is she has had five husbands; she really wants to live with this husband, whether this husband abandoned her or she could not find satisfaction with this man and left. In short, she has five failed marriages, right? So in this situation, Jesus wants to solve her problem; this is Jesus’ method.
Today I also want to share Jesus’ method with everyone. If you have such people around you, in fact, everyone has problems; it’s just that some of their problems are hidden, and some are exposed. Exposed problems are easier to solve; hidden problems we need to see. So this woman, Jesus knew all her problems, so at her most needed moment, Jesus appeared.
First, we want to think, why do we keep emphasizing this? Because if you have the power of Jesus, what do you think you will do? It’s actually very interesting; Jesus has the power to judge, yet He does not judge. Jesus has the power to condemn, yet He does not condemn. People, on the other hand, do not have the power to judge, yet they go on and on... they must judge. Have the people in this village become gods? Just this one poor lamb is judged every day, and you see, Jesus has this authority, yet He does not do such a thing.
If it were us, we know this woman; for example, if a woman comes to our church, and I happen to have the gift of prophecy, as soon as she walks in, I know this woman is careless. If it were like this, everyone would imagine, if it were like this, she walks in, and I say, “Sister, I know your situation; you have five husbands; you better repent.” May I ask: Can she repent? Do you know what her first sentence will be? “I don’t have five husbands; why should I repent? I am not wrong.” Isn’t it? She will immediately try her best to cover up herself. This is how people deal with problems.
And does Jesus want to untie this problem? Does Jesus also hope she repents? Yes, but what does repentance mean? Most people in our church know it, right? Many people think repentance is to fix your careless life and confess your sins to God. You shouldn’t even have the face to come to church, right? In the end, she really won’t come to church anymore because she feels unworthy, she shouldn’t come to this place. But you see, this woman, Jesus knows all her things, and at this moment, Jesus starts to teach her. We should not tell others things they cannot understand.
So what does repentance mean? It means a change of mind and thought, Amen! Every time you come to church, your mind and thoughts are renewed; the way you think about problems, the way you approach problems, and the way you view problems will change, Amen!
Just like I said earlier, you see this person’s situation; you see he is very terrible; you will blame him and let him change. This is human thinking. But today there is Jesus’ way; do you want to update it? Let’s see what Jesus’ method is. Jesus actually used what is called the universal key method. I mentioned this to you during Bible study, so today I want to demonstrate this for everyone because I summarized this point from Jesus, so I hope you all have wisdom and learn from Jesus.
Let’s look at verses 17-18; let’s read verse 16 to 18 together.
16 Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
Did you see the universal key? First, praise her. Do you see? I remember yesterday, when I was visiting with a few deacons, I actually don’t recommend directly using this matter. That is to say, you should first praise others, first accept their views; this is very important, Amen! Jesus clearly knew she had five husbands.
So Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” The woman said, “I have no husband.” What did Jesus say? “You are right when you say you have no husband.” Haha, do you see, brothers and sisters? You are right when you say you have no husband. Isn’t it necessary to spread the gospel like this? Because today we are talking about very basic things, especially for unbelievers, how to spread the gospel; this point is very important.
For example, if someone says, “Oh, Jesus can’t do that; believing in Jesus is problematic.” How should you respond? “You are absolutely right; I used to think that way.” Isn’t it? His ears will immediately perk up, “Oh, you have common ground with me.”
So at this moment, when the woman says, “I have no husband,” Jesus says, “You are right when you say you have no husband.” When this woman hears this, she is surprised that someone agrees with her viewpoint, isn’t she? Immediately, the distance is closed. Just now we said that the relationship between Jews and Samaritans was very bad. We will mention this later; how bad was it? Jews even said that entering the city of Samaria was unclean; I cannot let my shoes enter that city; I think they are too unclean, treated like dogs, unclean.
So in this situation, this woman feels that someone can understand her. The world hopes that others can recognize them, Amen! So this point is very important; Jesus did not praise her once; He said it twice, right? The first time, when this woman said, “I have no husband,” Jesus said, “You are right when you say you have no husband; you indeed have no husband.” Hallelujah, recognizing others is good, isn’t it?
So this universal key should be used frequently, not just for spreading the gospel; isn’t it also how you should speak in your life? If your wife, mother-in-law, or husband insults you, what will you do? You should use the universal key, Amen! As for how to use it, you see, Jesus’ method is like this: “That’s right; you are right when you say you have no husband. You have had five husbands; the one you are with now is not your husband, but this is true.”
Did Jesus point out her problem? Yes, He pointed it out. But what did He say next? He immediately affirmed her. Jesus said, “You have had five husbands; you are correct; you are indeed without a husband.”
But is this the same as what I just said? Both pointed out her problem, right? But what did the former say? “You careless woman; you have had five husbands; don’t think I don’t know.” That’s it, isn’t it? You see, the same thing is trying to point out her problem and let her repent, but isn’t Jesus’ way easier for people to accept?
Jesus said, “That’s right; you are right when you say you have no husband. Although you have had five husbands, the one you are with now is not your husband, but this is true.” This is Jesus. He knows your problems, but when He wants to correct your problems, He will gently tell you these problems, but quickly comfort you, Amen!
So you will find that the Holy Spirit, when guiding us in our hearts, is also like this. Under the law, it is very direct, “You committed adultery,” and that’s it. But you see, under the grace of the New Testament, the Holy Spirit will also tell you, for example, when you have some problems in your heart, for example, complaining about this family, complaining about society, feeling that everyone has wronged you, even feeling that your husband is not capable.
In this case, the Holy Spirit will tell you, “My dear daughter, do you know how much I love you? Even though you have not fulfilled your responsibilities as a wife at home, I still love you.” Wow, you see, such words, the Holy Spirit gives you this gentle way to renew you, isn’t it good? You can immediately accept it; it turns out to be like this. If you love me, even though I am so terrible and have not fulfilled my responsibilities as a wife, her thoughts will be updated immediately.
So we need to use Jesus’ method, Amen! Let the world believe that Jesus is so gentle in accepting them, but Jesus indeed hates sin. He never said to this woman, “You have had five men; you are too strong; hmm, that’s great.” No, He never praised sin as correct, did He? He just said, “Do you know? You have had five husbands; this is correct,” but He did not acknowledge that her behavior was correct, Amen! So this is Jesus’ method.
In fact, the man she is living with now is not her husband. Jesus seized this opportunity. We can imagine that when Jesus said this, His eyes were filled with more compassion and love, not accusation, not condemnation, but compassion and love, Amen!
With Jesus, you do not see sarcasm or judgment. So surrounded by such love, this woman let go of her self-consciousness, so it is Jesus’ strong love that attracts us to come before Him. You will find that when people come before Jesus, they are willing to take off all their hypocritical masks because they know that no matter how terrible they are in Jesus’ eyes, He will still accept them, Amen!
This is Jesus, so this woman put down her self-protective consciousness before Jesus. In this way, I also wish that when you treat your children, especially during the ages of twelve to eighteen, during puberty, you must encourage them like this; never hit them or humiliate them.
“You actually did such a thing; it’s too shameful.”
Do not speak like this; encourage them more. Then when you interact with your colleagues and friends, you should first praise them, first recognize them, and then use gentle words to correct them, and finally, you must praise them again, Amen!
So today I want to ask everyone a question: Do you know the names of this woman’s five husbands? In fact, it’s not five; it’s six, right? She has had five, and the one she is with now is not her husband, so there are a total of six.
Do you know the names of this woman’s six husbands? You don’t know, and that’s right; don’t go asking, haha, just kidding. But today I want to share with you from another perspective, from a spiritual perspective, the six husbands of Israel, and you will understand.
In fact, Jesus’ words are filled with very profound wisdom because He is facing a historical problem. We know that those who understand theology should understand that there are many historical problems in theology that cannot be solved, just like the problem between Samaritans and Jews; this is a problem between two nations that has not been solved for many years. But now Jesus has come; He wants to solve this problem. How does He solve it?
First, we need to know that Israel had five husbands in the past. Let’s first talk about what the names of those five husbands were. Just now, you said you didn’t know; I want to tell you what I know. It’s very simple. In the past, Israel had a very great God, a loving God guiding their lives. One of the things they were once proud of was the Solomon Empire.
During Solomon’s time, Israel reached its peak. After Solomon died, Israel began to have problems. Their country split, and at that time, problems began to arise in their country. They stopped relying on God, which is the tragedy of the Israelites, and also the tragedy of many people who believe in Jesus today: they have God but do not rely on this God. This is the most pitiful thing.
So the Israelites had this true God, but they did not rely on this God; they chose to rely on people. Their first husband was named Egypt. So you will find that in the Old Testament, there are many records of Israel having problems; they would go to Egypt and say, “Help me; we will give you money; come help us drive away the strong enemies.” At first, Egypt helped them when they were wealthy, but in the end, they just threw them aside; she was abandoned by this man.
Her second husband was named Assyria. After the northern kingdom of Israel split into two countries, the northern Israel and the southern Judah, the northern Israel was destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC. Brothers and sisters, this husband was very violent. He may have seen that Israel was beautiful, and after destroying her original country, he directly captured Israel and made her his slave. This was her second husband, named Assyria, very cruel.
So under such a husband, she always wanted to break free but could not. Later, the southern kingdom of Judah was destroyed by Babylon around 583 BC. Babylon was a powerful country that later destroyed Assyria. So at this time, both Israel and the Samaritans were taken captive by Babylon; this was her third husband.
They did not want to, but they had no way to break free from this man; this man was too powerful. Later, Medo-Persia rose and destroyed Babylon, and they became the wife of Medo-Persia.
Then later, it was Greece, which rose and destroyed Medo-Persia, and they became the wife of Greece.
In fact, we find that with each of these love affairs, the Israelites did not gain any satisfaction, Amen! Instead, they were left with scars. So they always hoped to break free from these men, these powerful empires, longing to find a man who could love them, who could bring them a stable country. But they did not find it, searching one after another, one after another, one after another. After five men, they still did not find satisfaction.
Now the man she is with is not her choice; what is this man called? Rome, which is during the time of Jesus. Rome ruled all of Israel, and the man of Rome is also a very cruel man who will not give her any love.
This woman, Israel, wants to break free from this man, but she has no strength. So around her, there are only voices of accusation because no one understands the pain in Israel’s heart. They abandoned the true God and kept looking for various satisfactions outside of God, but they found nothing. Isn’t this the state of the world? You go to various places to look for satisfaction, in KTV, in drugs, in various technologies; no matter how you search, you will never find satisfaction unless you come before the true God, Amen!
Just like this woman, she only has a desire in her heart; she longs for a complete love, a man who loves her. Thank the Lord, today she met Jesus, Amen! So you are fortunate; thank the Lord, you have met Jesus. This perfect man is her seventh man, Hallelujah!
Seven is a complete number in the Bible. When you find Jesus, you do not need to look for others anymore; it is enough, Amen! It is enough. So when this woman met Jesus, the love of this man, His acceptance, His care, made this woman gradually let go of all her self-protection.
Then she could face the pains of her past calmly. She did not call her husbands over because those men would not come at all. So today, when this woman found Jesus, her life was rewritten; her life was never the same again. She found satisfaction in Jesus, Amen!
Because Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst; the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” What does this mean? Today, you have received eternal satisfaction in Jesus Christ. Jesus not only satisfies you but also fills you with satisfaction that overflows, Amen!
So you will find that when you truly understand how much Jesus loves you, the joy in you overflows and infects others, Hallelujah! When you understand how much Jesus loves you, you will also be like this woman, “Come and see!”
You will let them see how good Jesus is, Amen! You will not say, “Come and see, look at how pitiful I am; I met Jesus!” No. You will let them see how much Jesus loves you, how willing He is to give you His life, Amen!
So this is the person who meets Jesus; their life will never be the same. From that moment on, she no longer needs to draw water under the scorching sun because no matter where you go, this spring is always with you. So remember at any time, Jesus is now with you. When you accept Jesus, believe that He paid the price for all your sins on the cross, He now lives in your heart. So at any time, you can pray to Him. When you encounter condemnation, when others humiliate you, you say, “Lord, I am hurt.” Jesus will immediately say, “I will comfort you.” You say, “Lord, they made me suffer losses.” Jesus will say, “I will compensate you.”
So at any time, this Lord who loves you, this most perfect man, will never forsake you. This is what God’s word directly tells us in the Bible: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So the Israelites have been searching for the Messiah, whom we now call Jesus Christ.
When you meet Jesus, your life will never be the same. So when you know how good Jesus is, how much He loves you, and that He will never leave you or change, your life will be completely transformed by Jesus. So this woman said, “There is a man who told me everything I ever did.” You will find that this woman now has the courage to face her past because she has drawn strength from Jesus; she has received His eternal living water, Amen!
So you may have come here in the past, just like that tender grass on dry land, very wilted. Today, because of what? Friends, colleagues, many people have attacked you. You came here, and then when the living water of Jesus continuously waters you, you find yourself standing up.
You know one thing: even if all the people of Samaria look down on me, Jesus loves me the most. At that time, she returned to the city of Samaria with the strength of Jesus, saying, “Come and see, come and see Jesus!” As a result, her shout indeed attracted many people because many people found this woman very curious, and they followed her to see Jesus. Later on, many Samaritans believed in Jesus.
You can imagine what this woman’s life would be like afterward. Would she really still wait for the sun to rise to its highest point and then secretly go out alone and return secretly? No, because she knows the Righteous Sun is always shining on her. So many people always say this world is too unfair, and many people are too unfair to me because the Righteous Sun in your heart has not risen. Do not let it always be sunset; let Jesus, this Righteous Sun, rise in your heart to the highest point, and He will shine on you forever, Amen!
I remember I told you before that when you face the sun, you cannot see your shadow. What you will see is the light, right? It is light. But if you turn your back to the sun, you cannot see the light; you will see your shadow. So there is only one situation where no matter how you turn, you cannot see the shadow. Do you know when that is? Haha, at noon, at noon, Amen!
So let the Righteous Sun, Jesus, always be at the highest point in your life! At that time, there will be no shadows in your life, Hallelujah! No matter how you turn, there will be no shadows. When others scold you, what does it matter? In the name of Jesus, your words will not come to pass; they will not fall on me, so what you say is ineffective, Amen!
When others curse you, it is the same; in the name of Jesus, your words have no authority, but my words have authority, so I only speak words of blessing, Hallelujah! So this is Jesus.
When you meet Jesus, the way your life is changed is that you no longer fear others because you have met one person; you no longer fear others. If you keep meeting many people, your fear will increase, right? Unless you meet that one person - Jesus, and this Jesus gives you affirmation that no one else can give you. When you rely on people, especially when you rely on friends, remember that you must maintain that there are no problems in front of your friends. Once your friends discover your problems or your worst side, they may look down on you. This is human nature. But do you know? Even if you show your worst side to Jesus, He will not leave you, Amen!
So the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament tells us that do you know there is a friend closer than a brother? That is Jesus; He is your closest friend. He is willing to renew you but will never condemn you or humiliate you, Hallelujah! This is our Jesus, so you can tell this wonderful Jesus, this loving Jesus, to your friends around you; they need this Jesus, Amen!
Everyone needs it. We saw that picture earlier. If you do not know this woman’s past, you might see: Ah! She is beautiful, young, and dressed beautifully, but you will never see these problems in her heart. This is why we cannot look at the surface; oh, this person’s life is pretty good; he does not need Jesus. No, everyone needs Jesus in their hearts, Hallelujah! Because everyone longs to be cared for, everyone longs to be recognized, everyone longs to find satisfaction; only Jesus, He is the one who can satisfy all our needs.
Do not place your focus, your gaze, and your hope on people; this is very scary. Do you remember? When Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, that group of people said, “Hosanna, Hosanna…” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” They were very happy. Many people laid their clothes on the ground and laid palm branches on the ground for Him to walk over.
Well, not long after, it was also this group of people who said, “Crucify Him, crucify Him, this shameful thing, this son of immorality.” It was still this group of people. So if you really place your hope in people, it is this scary; in the end, it will definitely lead you to despair. You say, “Oh, I didn’t expect it; you don’t know; in the past, our relationship was so good, and now it has turned into enemies.” It’s too normal. Why? Because you have not met Jesus. If you had met Jesus, the relationship between people would be permanent, Amen!
The relationship you establish with Jesus, I have established a correct relationship with Jesus; our relationship is the only permanent one, Hallelujah! This is the two aspects of the cross. First, you correct your relationship with God, and then your relationship with people will be correct. You see, in the Bible, there are many people who met Jesus, and their lives were changed. These people whose lives were changed all have one common characteristic: they were accepted by Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, think about it. Peter was a fisherman, right? That night he caught nothing, and Jesus accepted him. At that time, he said, “Lord, I am a sinner; please leave me.” Jesus did not say, “Hmm, looking at you, your repentance is quite thorough. It’s okay; I forgive you.” No, Jesus immediately said, “Follow me.” This is acceptance, Amen!
In fact, the world hopes to receive your acceptance. There is another person named Zacchaeus. This person was a chief tax collector. Everyone came over and said, “This is not a good person; this is a traitor; all the money he earns is dirty.” But Jesus came and said, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly; today I must stay at your house.” Zacchaeus’ life changed because he was accepted.
So brothers and sisters, to this day, many scientists, doctors, and many reputable people, how can they be changed? Because they also have needs in their hearts, but only in Jesus can they find satisfaction, Amen!
Brothers and sisters, Jesus will not make you awkward or uneasy. He will let you meet Him in the right place. He knows everything about you, and He loves you with everlasting love. So all you need to do is allow Him to enter your heart, just like this Samaritan woman at the well, receiving His love, and your life will be transformed.
Now let’s all pray before God:
Maybe you say, “Lord, many times, others do not understand me; I also long for others’ recognition.” At this moment, you need to turn your head and turn to Jesus. Only when you meet Jesus can you find satisfaction because only Jesus understands you best, and only Jesus can completely accept you. Do not seek satisfaction, acceptance, and love outside of Jesus. Jesus is your closest friend; He wants to give you His rest. You will find that in Him is always perfect, always unconditional love.
Maybe now you have some unknown past that makes you feel ashamed, makes you regret, even hate yourself. You need to come before Jesus. He understands your past; He understands these problems. He can untie your bindings and let you walk out of condemnation and pain. He wants to give you His everlasting joy; He wants to give you His everlasting living water. Not dead water, but living water that can bring you eternal life.
If in the past you have always heard of God as a fearful God who often judges you, He will not let go of every sin you commit, I tell you, you need to meet the real Jesus. When He shed His precious blood for you on the cross, God has forgiven you. So now, just like He accepted this Samaritan woman, He invites you to come before Him to receive His never-ending love. No matter how terrible your problems are, if you are willing to open your heart and walk towards Jesus, He is willing to heal you and love you. When you meet Jesus, your life will never be the same. Thank and praise the Lord. Alright, brothers and sisters, please stand.
Heavenly Father, we thank and praise You! Thank You for loving us so much. Yes, if we had not met You in our lives, we would have sought satisfaction, love, and recognition from many wrong places. But Lord, I know that only You can bring me true satisfaction; only You understand me best. You know the grievances I have suffered in this world, and You will comfort me.
You know all my past, yet You do not remember my past; You do not remember my sins, but instead, Your love surrounds me forever. I simply believe in You because You are such a Lord; You can change my life. I am willing to accept You into my life, let Jesus, the Righteous Sun, always be at the highest point in my life. At that time, there will be no shadows in my life; all shadows will dissipate under this righteous sunlight.
In the name of Jesus, I remove all bindings and all condemnation from your hearts. In the name of Jesus, it is removed because when Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross, God no longer remembers your faults. Let Jesus’ love fill your heart. You say, “Lord, I am willing to accept His love; He can change your life.” Focus your gaze on Jesus’ love, and you will be filled with Jesus’ love; you will be filled with strength; you will be a mighty warrior of God. Thank and praise the Lord, Hallelujah! In the name of Lord Jesus, we pray, Amen!