Still Very Thirsty -John 4:14

Looking at our world from a theological perspective, this is the Theology Central Podcast, making

Theology Central.

Good morning everyone, it is Sunday, March 8th, 2026.

It is currently 10.51 AM Central Time.

10.51 AM all across the United States of America right now.

People are already sitting in a pew or on their way, maybe they pulled up in the parking

lot.

They're trying to get the kids together.

Hurry up, we got to get inside.

Church begins in just a few minutes, maybe depending on maybe some went to an earlier

service.

But the point is people all across this country today is they're either on their way

to church, at church, leaving church, right?

People are going to go to church today.

They're going to sit there, they're going to hear the sermon preach.

They may attend Sunday school classes, they're going to hear the word of God taught, they're

going to sing songs of praise, they're going to pray, they're going to possibly give

and they're going to, again, hear the scriptures taught and preached, but here is the question.

When those people finally walk out of the sanctuary, when they walk out of the building, get

back in their car, drive out of the parking lot.

Will they truly be satisfied?

Will they truly be able to say, I do not thirst, I have no more longing, no more need,

no more desire because I have heard the word of God.

We believe in Jesus and Jesus fully satisfies.

All my thirst is gone, I am content, I am satisfied, Jesus is all I need, Jesus is all

I want, Jesus is all I desire because Jesus completely and fully satisfies, I will never

thirst again.

Come on, do you believe that's the way it will be today?

All across the United States of America, Christians will say, I'm satisfied, fully complete,

content, no more longing, no more desire, no more frustration, no more discouragement,

no more depression.

I'm going to say that we all know, come on, let's not, let's look, we're not in church

right here.

So we don't have to give the church answer, come on.

We all know that is not going to happen.

That is not even an accurate description of the way things are.

In fact, in many cases before people even get out of the parking lot, they're already going

to be arguing and there's going to be bickering in the car because someone is frustrated, someone

wants something, someone needs something, someone is there's going to be a disagreement, sometimes

there will be an argument before you even get home because there's still, well, can we

say people are still very, very, very, very thirsty.

Now, what am I talking about?

Well, here's, I hope this will all make sense.

I'm going to do my very best.

So, so I will go ahead and give you a complete welcome.

Welcome everyone.

It is Sunday, March the 8th, 2026.

It is now 10, 54 a.m. central time and I'm coming to you live from the Theology Central

studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

And late last night, right here in this studio, in fact sitting right here at this table,

I was here, I had my bibles open, the house was quiet.

I had most of the lights off and I was reading right here at this table, I was reading.

And what was I reading?

I was reading John chapter 4 verses 5 through 42.

And why was I reading John chapter 4 verses 5 through 42?

Because that is the lectionary reading for today if you were to attend a Lutheran church

Missouri Synod.

If you were to attend a Lutheran church Missouri Synod today, most likely you would hear John

chapter 4 verses 5 through 42 read because it is a part of the lectionary reading and

it is the gospel lectionary reading for today.

You know John chapter 4 verses 5 through 42, you know that section, right?

This is the woman at the well.

I mean, I could say you know the story well, it's the woman at the well.

You know the story.

And so I read it and then I read it again and I thought, okay, all right, it's getting

laid.

It was fast approaching, you know, getting, I don't know, it was starting to get laid

and I thought, you know what, I'll do the time is going to change.

I'm going to lose an hour.

I need to get some sleep so I'm going to choose some classic radio drama.

I'm going to lay down and I'm going to listen to that.

I'm going to fall asleep hopefully soon, hopefully quickly.

And then I'll get up and then I will go to church and I will hear about the woman at

the well and we'll see how the sermon goes, right?

But as I lay down, it only took like, you know, 10 minutes, I lay down and I started thinking

about the text soon, the radio drama was just like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, whatever

they were doing, whatever they were saying, I wasn't even paying attention anymore because

one line stayed with me over and over again.

John chapter 4 verse 14, Jesus says this, this is Jesus' words, whoever drinks of the

water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

And I just kept going over will never be thirsty again, will never be thirsty again, will

never be thirsty again.

And I just laid there and I laid there.

And finally, I'm like, oh man, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no.

I'm like, Jesus, why would you say that?

And then I said this out loud to myself, oh man, I wish that was true.

I so, I so wish that that was true, that if I was to drink the water that Jesus gives,

I will never thirst again.

And I wish that that was true in the, in the deepest possible sense and the fullest

sense of never thirsting again.

I wish that was true.

So I just kept saying I wish that was true, I wish that was true.

And finally, I'm like, you know what, I'm just, I'm just going to get up.

I'm just going to get up.

So I got up and I then kind of just started pacing, holding my Bible, going, man, I wish

that was true because, well, I thirst, I thirst, I desire, I need, I want, I crave, I

belong for, I hope for, I reach out for, I cry out for.

And come on, if I'm honest, there's probably times I feel very desperate for things.

And as I kind of pace back and forth thinking about it, I'm like, oh, come on, I cannot

be the only one, right?

I'm not the only one, right?

The world is filled with thirsty people.

People longing for love to, to be loved, to love and to receive love back.

There's people longing for some sense of peace, peace around them, peace inside of them.

There's people longing for some type of meaning and what's going on in the world and

what's going on in their own lives.

People longing for relief from all kinds of thing, from pain, disease, depression, discouragement,

relief from circumstances, relief from situations, from relief from how they're feeling, relief

from so many things.

People longing for something, maybe they can't even name it, maybe they don't even understand

but they're longing for something, for anything, they're longing for some type of satisfaction.

And I know, I know this to be true.

Christians are not exempt from this thirst, from this desire.

And we know they aren't, unless we're going to pretend that everyone who goes to church

today is just going to leave, going, Jesus satisfies, Jesus fully satisfies.

Now, I know many Christians say that.

I've seen that as a slogan, I've seen that promoted, I've seen that in sermon titles.

Jesus satisfies, I've seen merch sold that way.

If you got Jesus, you'll be fully satisfied, fully content.

But come on, I know that's, that is a, that's marketing.

That's fantasy.

That's the disnified version of Christianity.

Because we see it everywhere.

Christians still struggle with desire.

Don't tell me they don't.

You're telling me Christians still don't struggle with temptation?

Why?

Why?

Why can you be tempted?

Because there's something in you that has a what?

A need and a desire and temptation says,

fulfill that want that need desire.

Just fulfill it in a way that goes against scripture.

But why is the temptation powerful?

Because you're still thirsty.

You're very thirsty.

You have a need.

You have a desire and temptation says, fulfill it.

That's, that's because there is a need in the desire inside of you that obviously has not been

fully satisfied.

Christian still feel empty.

Christian still experienced oppression.

They experienced discouragement.

They experienced anger.

They experienced loneliness.

They experienced disappointment.

Christians argue.

Christians fight.

Churches split.

Marriages dissolve.

Problems with each other.

Fighting, bickering, arguing.

Why?

Because people are thirsty.

They have wants.

They have needs.

They have desires.

And they react strongly.

When those wants and needs and desires are not being met.

But wait a minute.

I thought Jesus said,

if I will just drink of the water he gives,

I will never, never.

It's infatic in the Greek.

I will never thirst again.

Some translations have again.

The King James just says,

will never thirst.

But it's infatic.

You will never thirst.

No, never.

Not.

It's, it's absolutely complete.

But wait, I see all of this thirst,

not only around me,

but inside of me,

we see the results of it.

Christians still cry at night.

Whether it's 11 o'clock at night, midnight,

or early in the morning,

one in the morning,

two in the morning,

three in the morning,

there's crying,

there's weeping,

there's longing.

Christians will wake up the very next day

with the same aching needs.

That they had the day before.

In fact, many of those people

are sitting in church right now,

leaving church right now.

They, no matter how much they want to say,

I've got Jesus and he fully satisfies

throughout the rest of this day,

tonight, and waking up tomorrow,

that thirst, those needs,

those wants, those desires,

those longings will be extremely present.

Now, for full transparency,

last night, late last night, around midnight,

I think it was a little after midnight,

I sat down at this desk,

and I turned on this microphone,

and I hit the button over here to my right

that says, start streaming,

and I went live,

and I did an entire episode

reflecting on John chapter four.

It didn't go well.

It didn't go well at all.

Now, and no way, shape, perform.

The recording fell apart.

I didn't feel like the thoughts were coming together.

There were all kinds of other problems,

and when I finished,

I was frustrated.

I was discouraged.

And honestly, I was a little angry.

So, I guess what I did.

I deleted the entire episode.

There was, what, 12.30?

I don't even know what time.

I ran, I'm close to 1 o'clock in the morning,

and I felt frustrated,

and I felt irritated.

Like, I'm going to get frustrated and irritated right now.

Why?

Do you hear that sound in the background?

Do you hear that?

Because my neighbor just started something that's really,

really loud.

So, that's going to frustrate me.

So, then, I was here.

It was now, it's getting like close to 1 o'clock in the morning,

actually, with the time change.

It's now like moving towards 2 o'clock in the morning.

And I'm just like, you got to be kidding me.

So, I sit down to do a broadcast about John chapter 4,

where Jesus says, if you will drink the water,

I will give.

You will never thirst again.

And I find myself in a complete state of frustration,

aggravation, irritation, anger,

and talk about dissatisfaction.

That would be the understatement of the year.

And now I'm going to be dissatisfied with that noise

in the background.

But then I started thinking about it after I tried to calm down.

I sat there and I think, well, you know,

maybe this moment,

maybe the most honest illustration of the entire episode.

Because if the water Jesus gives removes all first right now,

if it truly eliminated every longing, every frustration,

every unmet expectation,

then why did I react the way I did?

Why was there frustration?

Why was there discouragement?

Why was there anger?

I mean, all those emotions are signs of something deeper.

There are signs that I want things a certain way.

I hope for things.

I need things that desire for things.

I expect things to work out a certain way.

And when they don't, the reaction reveals the truth.

I'm still very thirsty.

And if I'm honest, so are most of us.

And by the end of this episode,

I'm going to be just as frustrated and just as irritated.

Because right next door right now,

my neighbor has his motorcycle going and it is loud.

And it's going to mess up this entire recording.

Do I end up deleting this one?

Now in some ways, it's a perfect frustration because that's how life is.

It's an irritating thirst inside and it just doesn't go away.

And we know it.

And I know we want to be, I'm going to be content in every situation.

Oh, I wish I could be.

Don't you?

I wish there would never be any grumbling or murmuring.

Don't you wish that was true?

Don't you wish that Jesus could give me the water that would remove all of that thirst?

Man, I wish it was true.

So then we're left with this question.

We're left with a very, and someone, it should be a troubling question.

If Jesus says, whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst again.

Then why does the entire world,

including the Christian world, still look so very thirsty?

Why do we so sound so very thirsty?

So what was the promise he made?

How do we understand it?

Because there's something about our experience,

there's something about our life that doesn't match the promise.

It just doesn't, and I don't care what sermon say.

I don't care what the church says.

I know how the church will typically handle it.

They always preach this disnified version

that just nobody in their right mind walks out of the sanctuary

believing half the stuff churches say.

Because we talk in this overspiritual language

that we create a false idea.

Again, Christians do this on a number of things.

Oh, if you become a Christian, you're a new creature.

Old things are passed away.

All things have become new.

And yes, that's scripture.

But wait a minute.

Clearly, if everyone who becomes a Christian

is a new creature and old things are passed away

and all things have become new,

then we should be perfect.

But we're not perfect.

But the church will continue to sell the,

it sells things in a way that no one actually ever lives.

And that, and most Christians in church will convince themselves,

oh, that's okay.

I'll just believe this and claim this,

even though I know it's not true.

They may not even say that way.

They may try to convince themselves it's true,

but there's a few people who will be like,

wait a minute, that's not the way it works.

And I'm here to say, I don't know about you,

but I can look around and I would say we're all

very, very, very thirsty.

And I just think about this.

If it was true that if we take the drink of the water

that Jesus gives, that we were never thirsted again,

think about what that would mean.

Sin would literally collapse overnight.

Most sin flows from thirst, from desire,

from craving, from wanting something we believe will satisfy us.

You remove that thirst and you remove the engine

that drives much of our behavior, much of our problems,

much of our failure.

Remove thirst.

Come on, don't you get rid of envy?

Remove thirst?

Does that not end addiction?

Remove thirst?

What are you going to be addicted to?

You've drank the water.

You're never going to thirst again.

You're not going to have a desire for anything again.

Remove thirst.

Don't you remove that endless, restless searching for

that kind of defines the human life.

We're looking for this.

We're wanting this.

We're needing this.

We're desiring this.

If I could just get this.

Oh, and now I want this.

And if I could just have this.

If you could remove thirst,

wouldn't depression just simply fade away and be gone?

Because much of depression, not all, but much of depression.

I can't say all of it.

A lot of it grows out of our unmet hopes.

Our unmet needs.

Wouldn't our anger be gone?

I mean, anger rises from frustrated desires.

When your desires are not met, you get frustrated

and that frustrated desire leads to anger.

Our discontentment.

I mean, come on.

Get rid of thirst.

Our discontentment would be completely gone.

It would 100% disappear.

I mean, imagine a life where the soul was so completely satisfied

with the water that Jesus gives that it never longed for anything again.

There would be no more emptiness.

There would be no more restless searching.

There would be no internal hunger.

There would be no desperate reaching for something

that might finally make me feel whole again.

There would just be complete total, wonderful, beautiful satisfaction.

And again, as I laid there in bed,

I all I could think was God.

I wish this was true.

As I got up and paced, God, I wish it was true.

As I was doing the episode, God, I wish it was true.

When I woke up today, God, I wish it was true.

As I'm sitting here doing this episode,

God, I wish it was true.

I wish I would never thirst again.

I wish no one around me thirst again.

But to be honest, I didn't really give much thought to anybody else.

It was me.

I don't want to ever thirst again.

I wish that my heart could stop searching.

But I know, I know, I know, I know, the evidence says something very different.

Not only me, but I get, there's got to be someone listening.

And you know as well, you're thirsty.

I know this to be a fact that people who believe in Christ still feel that thirst.

So I'm going to try to wrestle with this question today.

When Jesus said whoever drinks the water that I will give will never thirst again.

What did he actually mean?

Because I feel if we misunderstand that promise,

we may end up expecting something from our Christian life that I don't think the text ever intended to promise.

And that's the worst thing.

So many times the church says, look, take this promise.

It's yours.

And then we take the promise and they were like, but wait a minute.

I'm not experiencing what you claim I should be experiencing.

Now the church will always put the blame on you.

What's your fault?

Your fault.

Oh, if Jesus doesn't completely satisfy, you never drink the water.

So you're probably not saved.

Although the church will always blame you.

They pit and they make great promises.

It's just like a charismatic.

God guarantees healing.

Oh, you didn't get healed.

Well, you didn't have enough faith.

It's your fault.

It's always our fault.

The church loves to do that.

Makes great promises.

In many cases, I don't think that the promises are even there in the text.

They will claim that it is.

And then if it doesn't go the way they say it will go,

well, you're not saved.

You're not saved.

You're not saved.

You're going to burn in hell.

You're not saved.

You're going to burn in hell.

You're not saved.

You're going to burn in hell.

You're a sinner.

You need to read your Bible more.

You need to go to church more.

You need to get more money.

You need to join a small group.

You need to do this.

You need to do this.

It's always just give you a list of 75 things to do.

And then it'll work for you.

So, performance-based trap that you can never escape.

And a lot of times, it's this performance-based trap

based off promises that I don't think the text actually made.

So, what is Jesus actually telling us in John chapter 4?

Now, I'm going to do my very best to try to go through this

in a relatively short amount of time.

I could go much deeper in like an exegetical approach

but this was originally designed to be done,

you know, at around midnight one in the morning.

More kind of a late-night meditation

than a full-blown exegetical study.

I will add some things to this,

but I'm just going to try to make sure we have a basic understanding.

Because here's the reality.

Whether you went to church today,

whether you didn't go to church today,

it doesn't matter how much you read your Bible,

it doesn't matter how much you prayed,

it doesn't matter how much you loved Jesus,

you still thirst and you know it and I know it.

So, let's deal with attention.

Attention that I've spent now 23 minutes trying to articulate

and I've spent this much time because I wanted to just be seen.

There is attention between what Jesus says and what I experience,

but that tension goes beyond just what I experience.

This tension isn't just between Jesus and what I experience.

This tension is in the Bible itself.

When you open the Bible, come on, and you read,

tell me if I'm wrong, don't we encounter people who know God,

who believe in God, who trust in God,

but they still cry out in pain and longing and in distress?

I mean, the Psalms are perhaps the most honest book

of the entire Bible about the human condition.

Psalm chapter 13 verses one through two,

how long, oh Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

Now that is not the voice of someone who sounds completely satisfied.

No, that doesn't sound like someone who just left church wearing,

they went to the church bookstore and they got the latest merch.

Jesus satisfies T-shirt and even if they did,

their actual words go against the shirt and the merch they just bought from the church bookstore.

Psalm 13 is the voice of someone wrestling with sorrow,

wrestling with unanswered longing.

Look at Psalm chapter six, verse six,

I am weary with my moaning.

Every night I flood my bed with tears.

I drench my couch with my weeping.

The scriptures don't hide the reality that believers experience deep anguish.

The Bible doesn't hide the fact that they still cry, they still hurt,

they still long for relief.

And when we turn into the New Testament, I think I think we see the same thing.

Even the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul and Romans chapter seven, verse 24 says,

wretched man that I am who will deliver me from the body of death.

That's not the language of someone whose inner thirst has completely disappeared.

This is a cry of someone painfully aware of the ongoing struggle within.

And if you go a little bit further back on Romans chapter seven,

the Apostle Paul says the things I want to do, I don't do in the things that don't want to do,

those are the things I end up doing.

And then he's like wretched man that I am who's going to deliver me.

He's longing.

He's struggling.

Things are still not right.

He's still thirsty.

But but if you go on to Romans chapter eight, Paul, Paul even expands this.

The entire creation is growing,

groaning Romans chapter eight versus 22 through 23.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together and the pains of childbirth

until now and not only the creation, but we ourselves, we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly

for the adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies.

See, not only is the world groaning, but he says, but we ourselves groan inwardly.

And what are we groaning for for the redemption of our bodies for for something better,

for something than this life, this existence?

Because if you've been a Christian for any length of time,

you know you still long and you still thirst.

You know that your body still has longing and desire.

You still know you sin.

You still know you fall and you know the very weakness of your body itself.

Those who have faith and Christ are described by Paul in Romans chapter eight as people who groan,

who wait, who long for something that is not yet fully arrived.

So I think the Bible itself acknowledges that there is a reality that none of us can escape.

Human life, your life, my life, the Christian life.

Is marked by longing, is marked by still being very thirsty.

It is still marked by struggle.

It is still marked by a deep sense that something is not yet the way it should be,

but we want it to be that way, which then brings us back to the very words that kept me up most

of the night. The words that I'm still thinking about today, the words that many will hear,

and at least in Lutheran churches, and in many other churches were John chapter four

as preach, these words, whoever drinks this water that I will give him will never thirst again.

And in many churches that will may even be stated, hey, come forward, receive Jesus,

and you will never thirst again, you will be completely satisfied.

They will, they will share it that way.

But the reality is we will still groan and we will still long for it because we are still

very thirsty. So then how do we understand this promise?

I mean, the Bible itself repeatedly describes believers as people who are still groaning,

who are still longing and still waiting.

So I think this is a question that needs an answer.

It needs a good answer, an answer that gets rid of the church talk, the church culture that I

loathe, that I hate, that I despise, because it's so much spiritual nonsense, it's propaganda,

it's slogans, it's lies, it's supposed to create a vibe and a feeling.

And many people buy into the nonsense, they buy into church culture.

But when you go to the scriptures, you find things that are ugly and messy and I don't know,

I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I just know Jesus tells me I'm never going to thirst again

and I know this. Not only do I thirst again, most of the people in the Bible clearly demonstrate

that they're thirsting again. So why?

Can we reconcile this?

I mean, Jesus says the one who drinks the water he gives will never, never, never, never thirst again.

But we all know scripture shows something completely different.

Now, maybe the answer is found in how Jesus says this. Look at the, look at it carefully,

right? Look at John chapter 4 verse 14 carefully.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water,

welling up to eternal life. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water

welling up to eternal life. The King James has it a little bit different. It states it this way.

All right. So whoever drank it, thought the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.

Now, it doesn't put the word again there, but the implication is there. We'll never thirst.

It's an emphatic in the Greek. Never going to thirst again ever. No, not. It's not going to happen,

right? But listen, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing

up into everlasting life. Slightly different, but I think there's some things going on there

grammatically that we have to consider, all right? I think, I think what is happening here in

John 4, 14 is that I think what he's trying to say is that the water Jesus gives, the water that

he gives us to drink that we will never thirst again, that that water becomes an internal source

that continues moving toward moving forward to the fullness of eternal life. It's not merely a one-time

moment satisfaction, but it's moving towards something, all right? So let's try to break this apart

in the Greek. I don't want to spend a lot of time, but the literal structure, if you look at John

4 verse 14 in the Greek, and we do a transliteration, which sounds something like this, the water that I

will give him will become in him a spring of water leaping up into eternal life. And there's some

words here that are important. Some translations have will become, if we look at the King James and

the interlinear for the King James, if I can find my blue letter Bible app here, there it is.

If I go back to John chapter 4, and I look at the interlinear, we have, so who server but drinketh

of the water that I shall give him, never shall thirst, see? But the water that I shall give him shall

be shall be. Now that is this Greek word, shall be is this Greek word? Strong's G, 1096.

Gennemi. Now this, it's used 678 times, all right? So there's so many different things that can

mean, right? But it means to cause to be, to become, come into being, arise, come to pass,

to be, the outline of biblical usage, to become, to come into existence, begin to be, to receive

being, to become, come to pass, to arise, all right? To be performed, to become, all right? So if

we look at this, and I think this is very important, if we look at this and look at the phrase, I think

we can begin to see a little bit of what's going on here, all right? The idea is, will become, he's

going to give us water that's going to become, it's going to come to be, it's not simply is,

it's not simply remains, but becomes something inside the person. So the idea is kind of a

transformation. The water Jesus gives turns into something within the believer, it turns into,

it's going to become something, all right? Now the, this is where it can get a little confusing,

and the King James translation, it has, if you look at it, John 414, but who server drinketh of

the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be,

shall become, will be in him a well of water, a well of water. Now because this is the woman

at the well, we almost get this idea, it's going to become like a well inside of me, like a well,

all right? But a well is usually fed by what? Like a spring, right? So some translations, if we go with

this, if I'm going to go back to the King James here and look up the Greek so that you see, all right?

But who server drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that

I shall give him shall be shall become in him a well of water, a well of water. Now this phrase,

um, a well is this word, um, it's this Greek word. Strong G 477, pay gay, pay gay.

Pay gay. Now the idea here is a fountain, a spring, a well fed by a spring. So even if you

translate it, it's going to become a well, he's going to give us this water that will become a well,

or think of it this way, a well fed by a spring. It's going to be a well, but it's going to be fed by

a spring, all right? That I want to make sure we get that idea because that's very important

and understanding exactly what's going on here. So let's, let's try to break this phrase down,

all right? So we have will become our shall be. That means it's going to become, it's going to

come to be, all right? The water he's, he's going to give us, it's going to become something,

and it becomes a spring or a well, all right? So it means a spring, a fountain. Think of this,

a natural source of flowing water, all right? If you look in Greek literature, this would describe

underground springs, flowing fountains. So it's not a static well. It's a living source of water

that keeps on flowing. And so many modern translations, a spring of water, the new American standard,

a spring of water, the NIV, a spring of water, welling up. So Jesus is describing a continual or

continuing internal source. He's going to give us water that is continuing. It's a continuing

source, all right? Now, depending on the next phrase, the King James has, I shall give, shall be

in him a well of water, springing up, springing up. Now, this is important. Some translations have

leaping or welling up. Now, I'm going to go back to the blue letter Bible app. But who's

ever drink the water that I shall give him? She'll never thirst, but the water that I shall give him

shall be in him a well of water, springing up. I'm going to go back to the interlinear,

springing up. And it's this Greek word.

Strong G242. Halamai. Halamai. All right. Now, this is to leap to spring up,

gush up of water, right? So you have this continuing source of water, but suddenly it's going to spring

up. It's going to leap. Now, if we go back to this Greek phrase so that we try to understand

the whole concept here, now I'm going to break it down. Now, listen carefully, all right? So

he's going to give the water that Jesus gives us that supposedly we're never going to thirst

again if we drink. It's going to become something. It's going to come to be something and it's going

to come to be a spring or a spring fed well, a continuing source of this water. And it's going

to leap or it's going to well up or it's going to spring up. And this may be the most vivid word

here in the Greek. It means to leap. It means to jump. It means to spring up in Greek literature.

It means leaping water. It can be used to jumping animals. So the image here is very dynamic.

It's not just water sitting in a well. It's water springing upward. It's moving towards something.

And what is that? We'll look at the next phrase in to eternal life.

Springing up into eternal life into eternal life. Now, this preposition is important. It means

into toward or leading to. It can mean or it can imply a movement toward a goal. So the image

becomes this. A spring of water leaping up toward eternal life. So I think the wording, I think

this is fair and I think I'm being accurate with the Greek. It's suggesting a movement towards

the fullness of eternal life. It's moving towards something. All right. So we can understand the

grammar like this. Jesus gives the water. There's no question about that. That water, if we drink

of it, we're never going to thirst again, but that water becomes a spring inside of us.

And it keeps flowing towards something. It's leading towards something, eternal life.

So the image here is not that, oh, you just get instant satisfaction. No, it's an ongoing life

that will ultimately reach eternal life, which then reaches the full satisfaction

until the spring leaps up to eternal life, the fullness of it. That's when you reach never

thirst again. And I think this kind of fits well with what some people say, the already not yet.

Now, I don't know already. I don't always like that phrase already not yet, but in this case,

there is a sense that something is already. I already have eternal life, but I do not yet have

the fullness of eternal life. All right. And I want to make it very clear. For example,

John chapter 5 verse 24, whoever hears my words and believes in him who sent me has eternal life.

So eternal life is already possessed, but it's the fullness of it that clearly we know we're not

experiencing the fullness of eternal life yet, right? Have you stopped sinning? Do you have a

glorified body? Is the sinful nature being completely removed? Is there no more death, no more

pain, no more suffering? Clearly, we are not right. Reach that yet, the fullness of I have eternal

life. And that life is a as a a spring of water that is inside of me that will leap up fully

to ultimately experience and grab onto to the fullness of eternal life.

Think of it this way. In the Greek text, Jesus says, the water he gives will become a spring of water

leaping up into eternal life. It's not a stagnant well. It is a living source moving towards the

fullness of eternal life. And I think that is inaccurate. I think that's faithful to the grammar.

And I'm not trying to turn this into a full-blown grammatical Greek lecture. But I think

everything I'm saying there is being as accurate as that can be and being as simple as that can be.

We could even get into, we could even add a whole lot more here to this, but I'm trying to give

you the basic concept. Jesus gives us this water. We give this water. It ultimately, it is true.

We will never thirst again, but this water turns into this spring that is ultimately moving

and will ultimately lead into eternal life, the fullness of it. It's not saying that I don't have

the eternal life now, but this water will ultimately lead me to the fullness of it.

So think of it this way. I'll try to re-state it. Jesus is not simply saying the water removes

thirst in the present moment. And I know we want it to believe that, hey, if I drink the water,

I will never thirst again. And that starts the minute I drink of the water. I know we want it

to be that way. But I think what Jesus is trying to show is that this water becomes the spring

that leads to eternal life. And it's the fullness of eternal life that removes the thirst forever.

The water Jesus gives does ultimately end first, but when does that finally happen?

Now, the New Testament repeatedly teaches that we already possess eternal life in Christ.

That is a fact. I'm not denying that. But I think anyone who looks at the Bible has to understand

the full reality of that eternal life has not yet been experienced.

Now, there's some of it we have experienced, right? And think of it this way.

When it comes to our salvation, when it comes to our justification, we already have what we need

for salvation. I don't have to thirst ever again for salvation because I have all that I need

for salvation because I have Christ. I don't need to thirst for forgiveness. I have forgiveness in

Jesus Christ. I don't have to thirst for the righteousness before God because I have perfect

righteousness in Christ. So there's all these things I already have been given and I don't have

to thirst for those things. But I still live in a world that is broken. You know that I know that.

We still live in bodies that are weak. We still live in a creation that Paul himself, the Apostle

Paul says that it is groaning and we are all groaning for the redemption of our bodies.

So the water Jesus gives becomes something like a spring within the believer. It begins now.

It begins the minute we drink of it. And it does satisfy the thirst of everything pertaining to

our salvation because I drink of the water. I have everything I need to be saved. I have righteousness.

I have obedience. I have perfection. I have forgiveness. I have the blood of Christ. I have

all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ. So I don't have to thirst for any of that.

But that eternal that water is moving towards something greater. It's it's it's it's moving us

towards the full realization of eternal life. And that the fact that we have this water,

this spring of water, this well, this spring fed well inside of me that will leap up into

eternal life, then that should give me hope. That should give me hope. Because when I reach the end

of the Bible, something happens, something remarkable happens. This promise that Jesus made in

John chapter four. And remember, John chapter four, the gospel according to John, well, John

picks up this promise. And he speaks about it again in the book of Revelation.

He describes a future restoration. And notice what it says, Revelation chapter seven

verses 16 through 17. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, and God will wipe away

every tear from their eyes. Now, wait a minute. If John in John chapter four says, if I drink this

water and I will never thirst again, well, then if that meant for now, then I don't have to wait

till Revelation where then finally, I'm never going to thirst or hunger again. No, it would already

have stopped. But see, no, no, no, there is a point where there, I will never thirst again,

because it's the water that leads, that gives me this spring fed well that will ultimately leap up

to the fullness of eternal life. And then it's when we are in the presence of God that I will

hunger no more, and I will not thirst anymore. Revelation chapter seven verses 16 through 17.

And if you look at exactly the, the, the, the, you'll see where it's taking place here,

Revelation chapter seven, Revelation chapter seven, look at verse 15, therefore are they before

the throne of God, right? They shall, and then look at, and then the, and so they are before

the throne of God, and then they shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the

sunlight on them, nor any heat for the lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them,

and shall lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their

eyes. If John four was, you're never going to thirst again, then I don't need this in the book

of Revelation. No, I will ultimately never thirst again. When am I never going to thirst again?

When this water that's inside of me, this spring, this well, this spring fed well,

when it leaps up into eternal life and grabs the fullness of it, then I will never thirst again.

The water and the water that I drink that Jesus gives is the fountain. It is the spring that will

ultimately guarantee that I will never thirst again. Once this water leaps up into eternal life,

once it leads to, once it grabs the, it flows. Think of it this way. We get the spring of water in

me, right? And ultimately that spring of water will flow. Think of it. And I know it's not a perfect

illustration. It will ultimately flow into the ocean of eternity. Now, that's poetic. It's not

necessarily completely accurate from the grammatical standpoint, but you get the idea. I have

the spring of water. They're ultimately spring up, leap up, flow into the ocean of eternal life.

The spring is not the fullness of the ocean. It is only leading there. And this spring will

ultimately, it will sustain me. What Jesus gives me will sustain me spiritually. I cannot lose my

salvation. I have a, I have this spring fed well that's never going to run dry. So my eternal

life is guaranteed. I have forgiveness. I have hope because of Jesus Christ. But the fullness of

it is when I'm before God. Then I will never hunger thirst or cry again. The same thing is in

Revelation chapter 21 verse 4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death shall be no more.

There shall be no more morning nor crying nor pain anymore. That is when the thirst finally

ends. When longing is gone. When sorrow disappears. When the aching and completeness of life

finally gives way to the fullness of eternal life.

So I think the promise of Jesus in John chapter 4 is not that believers will never experience

longing again in the present world. Maybe the promise is something I don't know. Do we say better?

Do we say greater? I don't know. But the promise is that the life he gives, the water he gives

becomes a spring within us. And this spring carries us, sustains us all the way to the day where the

thirst will finally end. Until that day arrives, the world will remain a thirsty place.

And you and I are going to still fill that thirst.

And we're going to fill that thirst, but maybe the difference should be that the water that

Christ gives doesn't merely satisfy for a moment. It becomes a spring that leads to the day

when that thirst will be gone forever.

Now, should I say amen and close the Bible and go, all right, I feel so much better. I don't know.

As much as I wish the promise of John chapter 4 meant that the water Jesus gives would remove

every thirst in my life right now. Oh, and I do wish that. I wish that last night. I wish

that at one o'clock in the morning, two o'clock in the morning. It doesn't feel that way. It didn't

feel that way last night. It doesn't feel that way today. It doesn't feel like that my thirst has

been removed. I wish it was true, but it doesn't feel that way. Now, I want to make it very clear.

I can read the text, which I have. I can study the text, which we have just done. I can take it apart

grammatically. I did a pretty good job of that. I can try to explain it harmonitically. I think

I did a pretty good job with that. I think that we now understand what Jesus meant.

We may even be able to get a, an Iwana gold star for all of our hard, hermeneutical work.

I can see how the promise of John chapter 4 verse 14 points forward to eternal life,

to the day when that thirst will really forever be gone. And I can believe that promise.

But believe and experience are not always the same thing.

Because here I am.

Now 11.45 am. I've spent most of the night thinking about this. I'm a man. I'm a human being.

And I still thirst. I long for things. I feel the absence of things. I feel the reality.

Every hour, sometimes of every night, of every little thing I don't have.

I feel the weight of everything I wish was different. I feel the weight of everything I hope for,

but I cannot seem to reach, touch or have. Now faith can see what is not yet experienced.

By faith, I can see that this well of this spring-fed well inside of me, that Jesus

gave me of the water that I drink. I can see where it will lead to. So by faith, I can see I don't

experience yet, but I know the time is coming. There'll be no more pain, no more suffering, and there

I'll be no more thirst. Faith, I can see that by faith. Faith can believe what is not yet

arrived. So faith can see what is not yet experienced. Faith can believe what is not yet arrived.

Faith can hope for what the scripture promises, but faith does not always remove the thirst of the

present moment. Faith can see what is not yet experienced. Faith can believe what is not yet

arrived. Faith can hope for what the scripture promises, but faith does not remove the first

of the present. It does not remove the reality of the present. And if we're even a little bit honest,

most Christians know exactly what that feels like and exactly what I'm talking about. We read

the promises, we believe the promises, but we still lie awake at night and the darkness of our

own lives, aware of the ache, aware of the longing, aware of the incompleteness that still remains.

And maybe maybe the honesty of that moment as part of what it means to live between promise and

fulfillment. And that's what faith is all about. I have the promise by faith, I believe the promise,

but I don't have the fulfillment of it yet. Look at Hebrews chapter 11 of those who live by faith,

but did they get the promise? Did they see the promise? Did they and many of the cases they do not?

Maybe the Christian life is living between promise and fulfillment, between the water that has been

given and the day when the thirst will finally end. Because according to the Bible, that day really

is coming. A day where there'll be no more tears, no more longing, no more loss, no more thirst,

but today is not that day. Tonight, this world will still be a thirsty place and all today and

all tomorrow and the day after and the day after. And so am I. But somewhere ahead, beyond this broken

world, the spring Jesus spoke about will finally reach its destination. And when it does,

thirst will be gone forever. But tonight, today, tomorrow, it's not that day.

So right now, the world is a thirsty place. And I'm going to be honest with you as much as I believe

the promise and I do believe the promise. I'm not going to pretend because right now,

fast approaching noon or late last night, fast approaching midnight, I still thirst.

In fact, I'm very thirsty. And oh, I wish it was true

that if I drink the water Jesus gives, I would just never, ever, ever, ever, ever thirst again.

And that would begin the minute I drink that water. Because if it did, my life would be so different.

But I drink that water by faith, salvation and Christ. And I thirst.

Now, everything I need for salvation taken care of, I don't have to thirst for that. Praise God.

Everything else. Oh, I'm so thirsty. And it's led to problems and difficulties and struggles

and failures. Oh, come on, I'm not the only one. Fight arguments, unhappiness, depression,

discouragement, frustration, total depression, want to give up the end of myself.

Oh, I wish I could tell you, oh, I have so much hope and confidence and believe that one day,

I'm going to, he's going to satisfy all of my thirst. I'll never thirst again. I do believe

that but sometimes it's very theoretical because in the reality of my day-to-day life, whether it's

noon, whether it's midnight, whether it's 3 p.m. or 4 a.m., I know one thing. I know the reality

that I thirst, I long for. And if I'm being very honest with you, I can become very bitter.

Frustrated. I don't understand why God won't simply satisfy that thirst.

Some people, he lets them have a life where a lot of that thirst is satisfied and others

just like he dropped you in a desert. You don't even know where the next drop is coming from.

And that can be hard to understand. God bless.