JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY
| KJV WEB
| Endtime Prophecy
| Parallel Gospels
Page Numbers | Plywood Canoe
OT Commentary | Books
Contact | Gospel Tract

JOHN CHAPTER 4 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 4,1-10 (195a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Serving two masters >> You can only love one at a time Jn 4-1,2 (14e) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Being in charge of the details -- These verses go with verse 7 (68b) Authority >> Doing God’s work under His authority >> Natural Ministry of helps – Jesus didn’t wait to be persecuted by the Pharisees; He wasn’t looking for trouble; rather, He was looking for people who would receive His word. Jesus didn’t baptize anyone, but put His disciples in charge of the mechanics, just as when He raised Lazarus from the dead; He wasn’t the one to unbind his grave clothes. They were serving Jesus in this way, though Jesus said He was the servant of all. The service He provided was raising Lazarus from the dead, something His disciples certainly could not do, but they could unravel bandages. This is an indication of God’s will to put His creation to work to perform the tasks they are capable of doing. God never does anything that His creation can do for Him, not because He is lazy but because He wants them involved and committed to His cause, and He wants to include us in what He is doing so we can share in His reward. The more people fill their hands with the works of God, the more they are capable of believing in Him and the less time and energy they devote to sin. Jn 4,4-9 (12h) Servant >> Bond servant >> Their indifference to the world – Clearly, there were predisposed social undercurrents between Jesus and this Samaritan woman. Miscegenation was taboo in Jewish culture and Samaritans were guilty of race mixing. They were considered dogs for this reason (mutts if you will), being an infraction of Moses’ command to keep their bloodline pure, because this is what defined them as Israelites (Deuteronomy 7-3,4). In other cases Jesus was unwilling to do any favors for Samaritans or gentiles, particularly when He was in a crowd, having said as much in Mat 15-24, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” God did not send His Son to the whole world but only to the Jewish nation of Israel, so the gospel might emanate from them to the nations. Nevertheless, because Jesus was alone with the Samaritan woman, He felt no misgivings about ministering to her or receiving a drink from her. Jn 4-6 (37f) Judgment >> Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 4,7-19 (12l) Servant >> Jesus is the servant of man (62f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Lure in your prey -- These verses go with verse 39. Relationships between Jews and Samaritans held much animosity; Jesus had to create the connection between Himself (a Jew) and the woman (a Samaritan) before He could proceed to speak to her about spiritual things. The same is true with us; when we go to speak to people about Jesus, we must first make a connection with them. Often we find a hostile relationship, but that relationship can readily change. Note that Jesus appealed to her curiosity; He said something to her that made her want Him to clarify; she opened her heart to hear what He meant by the phrase “living water.” We are messengers of God and offer the living water of Christ to the world, and we can direct people to the headwaters of eternal life, as though it were Jesus Himself leading them. (149e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Compel them to come in >> luring them in – Jesus was asking for a drink that could keep Him alive in the flesh for another day, whereas Jesus offered water that could keep the woman alive forever. Jesus asked for a drink of natural water with the intent of reciprocating with living water. In order to receive the water that Jesus offers, she must give Him a drink of her water. That is, she had to be kind to Him before she could receive from Him. Jesus was giving her an opportunity to open her heart so she could receive the message of the gospel and be saved. This is an example of how Jesus is the opposite of Satan, who often employs the bait-n-switch tactic to fool his victims to give up something meaningful in exchange for junk. In contrast, Jesus offered eternal life for a simple glass of water. We think it is all important to be kind to the people we are trying to evangelize, but it is just as important for the people who need Jesus to be kind to us, otherwise they cannot receive what we offer. As evangelists, we should expect kindness from those we are leading to Christ. For example, Jesus taught His disciples to stay at one house when evangelizing a community, not to skip from house to house so not to offend the host (Lk 10,5-7). This way the host is offering a service of hospitality to the evangelists and opening their hearts to them and opening the community to the gospel, thus preparing their hearts to receive the faith that leads to eternal life. (221e) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from the mind of man >> He hides the truth from man’s understanding Jn 4,7-15 (103f) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Spirit like water >> Cleanses you from the desire to sin – This is a marvelous story about the process of substitution that God recurrently uses to impart His substance into His people to deliver us from sin, and the Spirit of God is at the very heart of it. Jesus will give us His water when we give Him our water. We who love God do not view Him as an ethereal illusion but as the core of our being, more substantive than the flesh, more real than the world. Anybody who drinks from Jacob’s well will thirst again, but we who drink from the water that Christ offers will become a source of water feeding ourselves and others around us, causing us to lose our taste for sin and essentially cleansing us from evil desires. This is not something we just sit back and let happen but we are directly involved; we are not passive spectators but active participants of our salvation. That is, while God is trying to deliver us, we cannot continue walking in sin. We live in a body that craves evil, and while God is working to deliver us from such things it would behoove us to work with Him, as Paul said in 2Cor 6-1, “Working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” He squelches our thirst for sin by His Spirit, but we have a job to do; we are the ones who must stop sinning as Paul said in Eph 6-13,14, “Having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore.” See also: Process of substitution; Jn 4-13,14; 116c Jn 4,7-9 (24k) Sin >> Poverty (Forms of fear) >> Anger >> Unforgiveness Jn 4-7 (14e) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Being in charge of the details -- This verse goes with verses 1&2 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4-9 (56m) Paradox >> Opposites >> The poor in spirit are rich in faith – This verse goes with verses 15-18. When the Samaritan woman asked for a cup of water that Jesus offered, she was taking Him literally, or was she challenging Him, or perhaps coaxing Him to explain His ideas more thoroughly? Jesus directly answered her question without ever mentioning water again, prophesying to her that she had a total of five husbands throughout her life, and her current man was not her husband; that is, she was living in fornication. Essentially, she had given up on marriage, which sounds like society today. This woman was open to the gospel of Christ; we might think after so much abuse she would have hardened her heart, but her heart was still open to the things of God. So many times after we have gotten our hearts broken, we ask a lot of dumb questions, such as, ‘Why did God do this to me.’ She didn’t ask that question, though; as a lowly Samaritan woman, she never had any honor in the first place. People who ask questions like that feel they deserve more in life, but the Samaritan woman was made to feel that she didn’t deserve anything, being probably why she was married and divorced five times. It is these kind of people that God seeks, those who are poor in spirit. God wants to give us a sense of value and importance, but He can’t do that if we already feel important without Him. (223a) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >> Thinking you are superior to others >> Thinking you are inherently better than others -- The Jews considered themselves better than Samaritans, but Jesus certainly did not feel this way about her. The lack of reaction of His disciples made a huge impact on her, being both a Samaritan and a woman. Their lack of reaction was just as convincing as the things Jesus spoke to her, suggesting that social influence wields great power over us all. The disciples did not ask Jesus why He was speaking with a Samaritan woman, because they were used to Jesus breaking the rules of religion and culture, but they were the least of Jesus’ concerns. If He had it His way, society would accept Him, but He was not going to accept society. 1Jn 5-19 says, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” To accept society is to condone an institution that is run by the devil himself, and Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1Jn 3-8) and to set people free from the bondage of sin and to offer them eternal life in His heavenly kingdom. Jn 4,10-14 (132j) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >> Drink in the Spirit (238aa) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> The kingdom is transferred to the Church >> Born again by the will of Christ Jn 4-10 (36c) Gift of God >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual food (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (109b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of the gift of God (111d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (208h) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God by the Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (225n) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about water -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (230d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- This verse goes with verses 13&14 (254i) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 13&14. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are essentially one and the same person, being two distinct entities with separate offices within the trinity. There are two aspects of the Holy Spirit: the indwelling Holy Spirit that acts as the seal of our salvation (Eph 1-13), and the anointing that clothes our outer man with a manifestation of God’s Kingdom. These two are really one, and can be seen as an outer manifestation of an inward work, as Jesus put it, "Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Jesus told a parable about a woman who put leaven in the center of a lump of dough (Mat 13-33), and it leavened the dough from the inside out. This leaven represents the Holy Spirit coming to dwell in our hearts. The leaven worked in the dough over night to leaven the entire lump, until the inner working of the Holy Spirit became obvious to all. This manifestation is the anointing. The born-again experience gives us a new will and new desires to serve the Lord, while the outward work of the Holy Spirit empowers us to do His will and protects us from evil. Communion is the ceremony for the born-again experience, while water baptism is the ceremony for the anointing, for it is our extremities that get wet. Every time we drink a glass of water we should think of the born-again experience, for the water we drink goes inside where the Holy Spirit seals us for the day of redemption (Eph 4-30). The born-again experience saves us for all eternity, while the anointing saves us in this life. The water that Jesus offered the woman at the well is reminiscent of Rev 22-1 that speaks about a river of life perpetually flowing from the throne of God. Jn 4-11,12 (167g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It does not understand the word of God -- These verses go with verse 15 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4-13,14 (35c) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> God’s immeasurable generosity – Some people think God gives His grace to make us willing to serve Him; instead, He gives His grace because we are willing to serve Him. God gives us grace on the day of our spiritual birth because we were willing to get saved in the first place, setting precedence for His grace in the future. His calling is to meet the potential of grace, so He might give more, leading to heaven's open door. This well of water is obviously more than we will ever drink, suggesting it is meant also for those around us, and we dip a glass into the water and offer it to whoever will drink it, and they become born-again because they too have received from the Spirit of God. (35g) Gift of God >> God gives Himself to us >> Jesus sends the Holy Spirit (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness -- These verses go with verses 31-34. Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Mat 5-6). The water of Christ represents the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer like a well that satisfies his thirst in this life, extending into eternity. The well is drilled into his heart so he carries the water with him wherever he goes, and drinks of it whenever he wants through the word of God and prayer. It is not a stationary well that we must carry on our shoulders, draining his energy. Instead, this well is weightless, never runs dry and resides in our heart, so we are never without the life-giving sustenance. The indwelling Holy Spirit creates a spiritual environment of righteousness, giving us the desire to be faithful to Christ. (81l) Thy kingdom come >> Pray without ceasing >> For the Church >> Anointing to pray (111d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Water and the word -- These verses go with verse 10. Some people have grandiose hopes, but who can top the hope of eternal life? Jesus said that the water He offers will cause us to never thirst again. He didn’t mean a person could drink a single cup of water and never thirst again, but that the water will always be available, so we can drink before we get thirsty. Jesus said that the water He gives would become in us a well of water springing up to eternal life. He didn’t say he would give us a well, but that He would give us water that would turn into a well to water others. We will become the headwaters of a creek that flows into rivers and into mighty rivers and eventually return to the ocean, from which God draws the rain to nourish the earth and replenish the groundwater that our well may never run dry. (116c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> Through our relationship with Him – We give Christ one glass of water, and He gives us in return a well of water springing up to eternal life. It is presumptive to think that people who have accomplished much for Jesus have received greater grace than others, for God can accomplish much with very little if we are faithful in the small things, but what can He do with those who refuse to work with Him? He can have all the grace in the world, but if he refuses to work with the Lord, it is all for nothing. See also: Process of substitution; Jn 4,7-15; 103f (162h) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> Addicted to sin >> Being a slave to the nature of sin – The water that the woman offered would not quench anyone's thirst for long, but she would need to return to the well in an vicious cycle of thirst. The well itself represents our hearts, very deep, dark and dank. We give our sin to Christ that He might give His righteousness to us in return. Jesus was talking about quenching our thirst for righteousness as a substitute for attempting to quench our own thirst with sin. If we use drugs, the urge will return to use again in a vicious cycle of addiction. The meth-addict gets high, becomes a basket case, feels miserable, gets high again and becomes less satisfied the more he uses. A person is addicted the moment it is not fun anymore, while he is out chasing another trick and spending all his money on that which does not satisfy. When Jesus said, “Anyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,” He was saying that we can imbibe our addiction like the woman who would soon return to Jacob’s well for more water. It would be nice to have a well that ended the vicious cycle of need, a well from which we can draw whenever we thirst, convenient, pure and satisfying, and if we receive this water from Christ, it will also qualify us for eternal life. God welcomes into His heaven who have partaken of His Spirit. See also: Freedom from addiction (bondage); Jn 8,31-36; 119c (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life -- These verses go with verse 10 (208h) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Relationship with God by the Spirit -- These verses go with verse 10 (225n) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about water -- These verses go with verse 10 (229c) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> Growing In Numbers Corresponds With Spiritual Growth >> Kingdom grows in size (230d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit -- These verses go with verse 10 (244f) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> Eternal life of the trinity >> Spirit is the source of eternal life (254i) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Holy Spirit >> Holy Spirit is life >> Spirit of Jesus -- These verses go with verse 10 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,15-19 (134j) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Sins of the body >> Immorality >> Adultery >> Physical adultery – If this woman's many divorces were not from the result of her husbands' infidelity, the only alternative she had was to remain single for the rest of her life, and this is what Jesus was calling her to do by bringing her current boyfriend to her attention. Jesus was calling her to permanently remain celibate. This would be her means of accessing the living water of God's eternal kingdom. She can’t remarry if she were the cause of any one of the divorces, for she would not be able to repent of it, except to remain single, being her only recourse for repentance. This is a strong calling from God to those who are in situations like this. Jn 4,15-18 (56m) Paradox >> Opposites >> The poor in spirit are rich in faith – These verses go with verses 27-29 Jn 4-15 (167g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It does not understand the word of God -- This verse goes with verse 33 Jn 4,16-19 (1e) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God and people >> Do not criticize in the flesh -- Jesus was compassionate with the woman at the well, even though she was a little loose in her lifestyle and was apparently a difficult person, being she had five failed marriages. Christ had nothing to gain by being critical, but He was able to point out her flaws without unnecessarily offending her. As it was, she was more amazed that a perfect stranger knew so much about her than the fact that He was bringing up her sins. Perhaps the moral of the story is that you can be judgmental of a person if you speak in the right Spirit with the right motives. Jesus got very personal with her without offending her, which is not something you can do in the flesh. (110a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Word of knowledge >> knowing their thoughts by the mind of Christ -- These verses go with verse 39 (152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world – Jesus was teaching the woman at the well how to have a relationship with God through repentance, for without repentance there is no genuine faith, and without faith there is no salvation. Listen how Jesus answered this woman. She asked Him for this living water so she wouldn’t have to draw at the well anymore, and His answer was, “Go, call your husband and come here” (v16). He didn't specify which husband, so the statement was rhetorical. He was telling her that there was something she must do before she could receive this living water. Jesus’ message throughout His 3½-year ministry was, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Mat 4-17). He was saying to her, ‘You can receive this living water if you first repent of your adultery.’ Jn 4,16-18 (62n) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives the lost KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,20-24 (176h) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Resolution without relationship – Jesus said that the Samaritans worshipped in ignorance but the Jews worship in Spirit and truth. When the Samaritan woman said “our fathers worshipped in these mountains,” she was talking about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; those were her fathers. She was saying that the sons of Abraham worshipped in the location of Samaria, but the Jews told her that Jerusalem was the place where men ought to worship. They had the Jewish temple where they sacrificed animals and performed the required services according to the old covenant. In that sense they worshipped God, but in truth it is a place where not much worship actually made it to heaven. Instead, it is the place where they killed the prophets and stoned those sent to her (Mat 23,37-39). Jesus was saying two things to her, (1) worshipping God would no longer be held in a certain place but God’s worshippers would be spread throughout the whole world, and (2) God’s worshippers will especially not be found in the mountains of Samaria or in Jerusalem in the coming days. Today Jerusalem is a spiritual void of faith in Jesus, though in the last days that will change. The Book of Revelation prophesies Jerusalem as the epicenter of a massive earthquake that will split the city in thirds, representing three kinds of Jewish people: believers in Jesus, orthodox Jews and atheistic Jews. (252f) Trinity >> You shall put no other gods before Me >> Worship God >> Worship God who is Spirit >> Worship God in the Spirit – Why didn’t God just forgive us by His own volition without sending His Son to be the propitiation for sin? God wants a people who are inextricably dependent on Him, made in His image and knows about sin, so they can teach the rest of His creation the difference between right and wrong. God cannot tell his creation about good and evil, for if He did and they rebelled against Him, which most certainly they would do, it would put them in the same predicament that mankind currently finds himself. That is, God saved us so we could teach the rest of His creation about Him, that refusing to worship God is the same as worshipping self, and self-worship always leads to destruction. It always looks the same and has the same consequence. This means the most righteous thing we can do is worship God, and the highest form of worship is obedience, and the highest form of obedience is prayer in spirit and truth. See also: New heavens and a new earth (We will teach the new creation right from wrong); Jn 14,16-24; 225a Jn 4-22 (195h) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Idolatry >> Worshipping other gods >> Worshipping other gods as a servant (210g) Salvation Is From The Jews (Key verse) (210h) Salvation >> Jews and gentiles are being saved >> Salvation is from the Jews >> The Jew first >> Jews lead the world to faith in Jesus – The fact that salvation is from the Jews is something that the Church has forgotten. We cannot be haughty against the Jews, and for this reason any so-called Christian who is anti-Semitic is probably not a Christian, for to be prejudice against the Jews is to condemn the roots of his own faith, which is the height of ignorance. God’s intent, throughout all Jewish history starting with Abraham was that they should be leaders in all things pertaining to God. In the Old Testament they were called to be a beacon for the world, believing in God like Abraham their forefather and living by the Law of Moses. Then after Jesus came, they were given first dibs on becoming leaders of the gospel and spreading the knowledge of Him to the nations, but the Jews rejected God’s purpose, and so God bypassed them and gave the ministry to the gentiles who botched the gospel almost immediately, calling the one and only true Church Catholicism, which was steeped in Gnosticism and witchcraft. They only got a few things right, not enough to make a positive impact on the world; instead, they impacted it for their own purposes, and turned their religion into a business and became disobedient like the Jews. For Catholics to be anti-Semitic is the pinnacle of hypocrisy, because they were no more obedient to God than the Jews. The Protestants were not much better. None of these historical blunders detract from the statement that Jesus made about salvation coming from the Jews. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4-23,24 (32a) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Grace >> God’s grace seeks man (81c) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Ministering to God – Serving God is the basis for serving people, for without it our service to people would become idolatry, inadvertently placing it before our service to God. Some people may disagree and say that their service to people is their service to God. However, let's define “service to God” as a relationship with Christ through the study of the Bible and through prayer. Without these two in our personal relationship with Christ, our faith is weak if it exists at all. We must return to the Old Testament, when God required animal sacrifices as their means of worship, and look at the role of the priest, which is the image of a true Christian. Our primary service to God is to perform the divine worship, and in New Testament fashion that translates to being students of His word and disciples of Prayer. (107g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Truth of the trinity >> Spirit is truth – God’s worshippers worship Him in Spirit and truth, not one or the other but both. Those who attempt to worship God in Spirit only will get railroaded into worshipping demons, and those who attempt to worship Him in truth only cannot rise above dead religion. We who are born of God know the truth and worship Him accordingly, based on what the Spirit is saying. (111c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit of truth – This is a perfect description of how the Holy Spirit interacts with the Word of God. If we worship God in spirit only, we won’t have the word of God to direct us, and if we worship by His Word only, we won’t have the Holy Spirit to empower us, but if we incorporate both the Spirit and the Word, then our worship will touch heaven. If we worship Him by His Word only or by His Spirit only, invariably the demonic principalities and powers that govern this world will undermine us, and we will unwittingly worship demons (1Cor 10-20). We need both the Spirit and the Word to complement each other so that spiritual darkness does not redirect us into error. (135n) Temple >> Your spirit is the temple of God >> The body of Christ >> Similarity in the body >> The things we have in common >> Common Lord (152i) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> The Church holds the position of a prophet >> Church operates under a prophetic anointing >> Receiving a prophetic word from God – Worshipping God does not always involve singing and lifting our hands in praise to the Lord. Jesus was saying that prior to His coming God had no true worshippers, for no one worshipped Him in Spirit and truth, for the Spirit had not yet been given. The new covenant form of worship parallels the prophets of the Old Testament, including the psalmists. This indicates that everyone who worships God in Spirit and truth is a prophet (Jn 16-13), and Jesus was referring to all new covenant believers, suggesting further that all born-again Christians are prophets, for they have the Spirit of prophecy dwelling in them, regardless if they have the gift of prophecy. Unbelievers cannot worship God in Spirit and truth, neither have they the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, nor do they know the truth. The heathen can sing hymns and raise their hands, quote a Bible verse and do good to a neighbor, but they cannot worship God, for the Holy Spirit must dwell in them to be His true worshippers. Jn 4-23 (116b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> In prayer – Jesus was saying that His Father does not receive those who worship Him by a strange spirit, for it proves they are also estranged from His Truth. We must not have the Spirit without the word, and we must not have the word without the Spirit; they should not exist apart from each other, for together they constitute the grace of God. They act as two members of the trinity: the Holy Spirit and the Father, who is the origin of God’s Word. The third member of the trinity is Jesus, who manifested the Word of God through obedience. As we perform the works that God has prepared for us, we account for all three members of the trinity in our lives. We work the grace of God through obedience, based on the voice of the Holy Spirit, who speaks to us about the word of God, and when we do what He says, we are worshipping the Father. Jn 4-24 (255e) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> God is Spirit KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,25-30 (86d) Thy kingdom come >> Belief demands a response – The fact that His disciples did not react to Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman convinced her that everything He said was true. (Samaritans were Jews who had mixed their bloodline with gentiles.) It was a lack of reaction that had the greatest affect on her. She watched the disciples return and awaited their response, being that it was taboo for a Jew to speak with a Samaritan, much less a woman, indicating that she was highly attuned to social cues. The prophecy about her having five husbands and the man she was with was not her husband, combined with the fact that He spoke to her in the first place, convinced her that He was the Christ. He didn’t act normal. There are many people who don’t act normal, but not all of them can prophesy. She might have thought He was playing a trick, except that He broke all the social norms and transcended genders and races, and this a trickster would not do. When she combined the prophecy with His lack of concern for social norms, she understood that He was not from those parts. He was obviously a Jew; she got that from Him, and she probably understood that He lived in the places where Jews lived, and that He lived by their norms and doctrines and by their ancient manuscripts and laws, yet He did not act like a member of His culture, demonstrating that He was truly a foreigner. He was not a citizen of Jerusalem, nor of Samaria, not even of this world. His hometown rejected Him, for His real home was heaven, and she was beginning to understand this. (121h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expectation >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expecting good things because He is God Jn 4,25-27 (22m) Sin >> Pride glorifies self >> Comparing yourself with others Jn 4-26 (226i) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the degree of our labors Jn 4,27-29 (56m) Paradox >> Opposites >> The poor in spirit are rich in faith – These verses go with verse 9 (130i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Great leaders accept small people Jn 4,28-39 (148l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Obligation to preach the gospel >> Slave laborers – After Jesus ministered to the woman at the well she preached the gospel to the fellow citizens of Samaria, just as Jesus left it to the demoniac of the Gerasenes to preach the gospel throughout all his region (see Mark chapter 5). The fields being white with harvest cannot be said for America today, though. This country has completed the cycle of receiving the word with gladness, bearing the fruit of the kingdom, taking their faith for granted, assuming the destiny of heaven, and in the end denying their own Master and Lord who bought them. The fields are no longer white with harvest, but perhaps third-world countries are more receptive to the gospel. Missionaries have come to them on a minimal scale, but the Bible says that one of the prerequisites of the second coming of Christ is that the gospel of the kingdom must be preached to “all the nations, and then the end will come” (Mat 24-14). When God calls upon His people once again, the Jews, 144,000 prophesied in the book of revelation, they will lead a Great Endtime Revival of the gentiles, and there will be a great awakening throughout the world, particularly in third-world countries, and they will bear much fruit. Hundreds of millions of people will come to faith in Jesus. In chapter twelve of Revelation God calls believing Israel "the woman", and she will be persecuted, and God will lead her into the wilderness, and so throughout these third-world countries God will call His Jewish apostles to establish camps in the wilderness in outlying areas, such as where Jesus was speaking with this woman next to Jacob's well, and there will be a great ingathering of souls. God will demonstrate His Kingdom with signs, wonders and miracles, feeding people with something like manna as He did in the days of Moses. Many people will come to Christ, approaching the number of people who have been saved since the beginning of the age of grace. See also: Great endtime revival; Jn 4,34-38; 50d / Harvest at the end of the age; Act 6,1-10; 130c KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,31-34 (76l) Word Is Food (Key verse) (77a) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His righteousness -- These verses go with verse 10. The disciples were suspicious that Jesus had a private stash or that perhaps someone gave Him something to eat while they were away, but Jesus considered fulfilling His ministry more important than food. He considered dying of starvation doing the will of God better than stuffing His mouth with delicacies while living outside the will of God. (129k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Being in one accord >> Single minded >> Determination – Everyone hears about Jesus going to the cross, but had Jesus bypassed His 3½ year ministry and just went to the cross, He would have become just one more person executed on a wooden pole, and there were hundreds of people crucified back then. His preliminary ministry involved preaching and teaching, bearing fruit and performing signs and wonders to prove His identity, so when He finally went to the cross, His ministry correlated with His death and resurrection. Now the whole world has come to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. His preliminary ministry was indeed crucial. (168i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> Deaf to the word of God from a lack of understanding (189j) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Fasting simulates dying to self – The Bible teaches that God has a plan and purpose for each of us and that we should value our ministry more than our food. We should hunger to fulfill God’s calling more than we hunger for the sustenance of our bodies. When the anointing stirs us and gives us a revelation of His will, it is like a fire burning in our soul that we faithfully maintain, like the priests maintained the perpetual incense burning on the Golden Altar of Incense inside the temple, located in front of the Holy of Holies. We are to perpetually kindle afresh this fire to constantly invigorate the anointing that God has imparted in us for the purpose of fulfilling our calling. If we let the fire die, we have no way to restart it. (230b) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> What we must do to partake of the kingdom >> Partaking which requires our participation (234g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Placing no boundaries on your commitment to God >> Completely given over to the will of God – Jesus spoke to His enemies in parables for the very reason that they would not understand Him, since their unbelief made them unworthy of the truth. He spoke parables to His disciples for a different reason: to stir their curiosity. It is useless to tell people something they don’t want to know. It could be the most important thing in the world, but if they don't care about it, they might not even hear the words. Jesus peaked their interest before he told them that He was fulfilling a purpose that God had given Him, being the reason He was born. Isn’t it funny we can say that about Jesus in full confidence, but when we think about our own calling, it is fuzzy? We believe we have a purpose, but it remains mostly in the theoretical realm, yet God sees His purpose in creating us just as clearly as He saw Jesus' purpose. The reason we see His purpose so well is that He completed it without adding any extra curricular activities to it, whereas we nest our calling among a lot of other things that we consider important, and for this reason, our purpose is blurred. Jesus valued fulfilling His purpose above His food, indicating His zeal. Where is zeal in the Church today? People go through the motions Sunday by Sunday with no net change and no apparent purpose, our faith eroded to mere routine. The day our faith can be crammed into a routine is the day of our spiritual death. (247k) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> The will of God >> We play our part in the will of God >> Doing the will of God (248h) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Values >> Valuing God >> Knowing God is more important than serving Him – The key word in this passage is “know” in the verse, “I have food to eat that you do not know about” (v32). He was saying that His disciples did not know God as they should; they were fleshly and worldly and concerned only about this life. There was very little in the Old Testament that spoke about interests in any life other than this one, but was dedicated to teaching how to live in this world, and so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that this was the disciples’ thought process, but Jesus changed the value system and prioritized eternal life to come before this life. He tried to explain to His disciples that every aspect of this life was to be used as a resource to promote the kingdom that is to come. Jesus was saying to them, ‘You don’t know God’s priority system.’ Had the disciples known, they would have understood what Jesus was telling them, and He wouldn’t have had to constantly clarify everything He said. They never shifted their value system of this life to the life to come, but allowed their priorities to remain in the temporal realm, and for this reason they didn’t understand Jesus or anything He said, until He rose from the dead. Then they understood that everything He did and said was about the life to come. When Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work,” He was saying that He considered doing the will of God more important than the food He ate to sustain His flesh, and of course the disciples didn’t get it, but argued with each other about who gave Him something to eat. There are so many incidences in the gospels that show Jesus’ near infinite patience and forbearance toward His disciples, being willing to continually teach and reteach them to the point that the regular person would wonder if He should have chosen them as His disciples. Maybe He should have looked for some smarter guys, people who may be a little more intuitive, but the men Jesus chose eventually understood Jesus better than anyone before or after them. Once Jesus rose from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit in His place, and God anointed their minds so they finally understood what He was saying, they recalled His many statements, but at the time they were clueless. Jn 4-33 (167g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It does not understand the word of God -- This verse goes with verses 11&12 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,34-38 (50d) Judgment >> Last Days >> Jewish Led endtime revival >> Jews lead the world into revival >> Leading the harvest at the end of the age – There will be a great reaping of souls in the last days, suggesting that before this happens there must be a great sowing of the seed. Hosea 10-12 says, “Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you.” This was referring to the Old Testament prophets, also Jesus who showed by example how to sow the seed, so that at His departure, He would put it in the hands of His disciples to reap the harvest. This is the process that has continued throughout the age of grace: sowing the seed and then reaping the souls. For so many people to be reaped in the last days means that there was first a great sowing of the seed; missionaries over the last 2,000 years have gone into virtually every corner of the world and have sown the word of God in the hearts of people, so that just about everybody has heard the name of Jesus. Some got saved through their ministry, but their main purpose was to sow the seed, to break up the soil, so when God’s Kingdom visits them in power, it will have a familiar ring to it. Countries have heard from England and other places who brought the gospel with them and sowed it many hundreds of years ago, and these experiences and memories will have a place when the Great Endtime Revival comes, the soil will have been plowed beforehand. Some missionaries may have become discouraged by a lack of souls won through their efforts, but not to worry, their labors were not in vain. See also: Great endtime revival; Jn 4,28-39; 148l (128l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Living a fruitful life >> It is a way of thriving – Jesus was talking about bearing the fruit of evangelism as though it were His food to do the will of God, and so we too have the right to eat the fruit of our ways to sustain us in our endeavors to complete the work that God has given us to do; for it is written, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing” (Deuteronomy 25-4). This means that those we win to Christ minister to us as we minister to them. We do not bear fruit just for ourselves but also for our fellow brethren in the faith, that they may eat with us, like the breadwinner of a household earns enough for his whole family. All the saints are called to do the same that we all may benefit from each other's labor. Jn 4-34 (87c) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Jesus obeyed all the Father’s will (114i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All His works are what the Father does Jn 4,35-38 (141a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ ministry >> Jesus is the great shepherd – The only people Jesus could have had in mind regarding entering into their labors were the Old Testament prophets. The prophets sowed the word of God and the disciples reaped souls for the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus was also talking about His own labor, that He too sowed the word of God, healed the sick and raised the dead, fulfilled Old Testament Scripture and added to the prophets, and His laborers the apostles followed behind Him and reaped souls for eternal life. All evangelists enter the labor of prophets, John the Baptist, another example, preached the gospel of the kingdom, which fulfilled prophecy and added to the bank of prophecy. Jn 4,36-38 (131k) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Working together for one cause – The reward of an evangelist is human souls, so that both those who sow and those who reap may rejoice together. Although their ministries were not in any way linked, and probably occurred at different times, possibly even centuries apart, when the harvest finally comes, in heaven the sower and the reaper will rejoice together. Human souls are part of their heavenly inheritance. Finally, the one who sows and the one who reaps will be able to share their stories, the time gap filled. The evangelist reaps the harvest of previous evangelists. In this way we can see the evangelist as both sowers and reapers, the difference being, when the evangelist came the first time the people were not ready to receive the word, which was planted in their hearts and given time for the seedling to germinate and sprout, watered and cultivated. Leaves developed so when the evangelist came a second time, faith was ready to receive the gospel. If somebody invests his life to travel thousands of miles from home to preach to a people who did not appropriately respond the first time, the evangelist should not be discouraged, for he is spreading seed for the next pass of the gospel by another evangelist. Another day will come when the hearts of men will be softened, for God has His ways, as the spade goes through the hard-crusted, sun-baked soil and turns it for the seed. See also: Evangelism (Making disciples); 2Tim 2-4; 120l Jn 4-36 (130m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependent on each other >> Depend on your brother to walk in the gifts of God’s calling KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4,39-42 (226k) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> God rewards us for obeying Him >> Rewarded for believing in God – Make a request of Jesus who said; “Ask and you shall receive,” and He will do what He can to accommodate us, so long as our request lies within the parameters of His Father’s will. His favorite word is not “No!” How many times have we heard that word after asking somebody for a favor? People say “No!” before processing the request, their answer slipping off their tongue like a toboggan off a snowy slope. The Samaritans believed in Him because of the words He spoke to the woman about her marriage track record without condemning her. The Samaritans were lowly people, uncared-for, one step above lepers. Simply by exercising the gift of knowledge they believed Jesus was the Messiah. He couldn’t pull faith from Israel even after raising the dead! The Samaritans received a tremendous blessing with the knowledge of standing next to the Old Testament prophesied Messiah, and this made them feel special, which was something the Samaritans rarely felt from anybody, especially not from a Jew. Jn 4-39 (62f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Being clever >> Lure in your prey -- This verse goes with verses 7-19 (110a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Word of knowledge >> knowing their thoughts by the mind of Christ -- This verse goes with verses 16-19 (150g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness of Jesus >> Confessing Jesus >> Confessing what Jesus has done – All of Samaria believed in Jesus because the woman at the well went through town and told everyone about a man who was a prophet, and they gladly received Him. The world today would not respond the same way if a prophet came to them. They were Samaritans, Jews who mixed their bloodline with the nations, which was taboo. God commanded them to keep their generations pure, but the Samaritans disobeyed the Lord, so the Jews viewed them as substandard and ejected them from their Jewish communities, so they established their own town of Samaria and created a new form of religious worship that was their own, since they could not worship at the temple in Jerusalem. When they strayed from Jewish blood, they also strayed from Jewish faith, and in that respect they were not Jewish at all. The Jews had no dealings with them, but Jesus was happy to visit them. However, later, when He journeyed to the Holy City when He would be crucified, He passed through Samaria again, and they saw He was intent on going to Jerusalem, and the Samaritans rejected Him, though they received Him earlier when they thought He might become their prophet. So their acceptance of Him was based on the condition that He dedicated His life to them, and that simply was not what He came to do. Jesus was dedicated to Israel and to the Jews. See also: Rejecting Christ; Jn 4-42; 210d / We have the mind of Christ; Rom 8,26-34; 117e Jn 4-41,42 (107b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Word creates faith >> Jesus’ words create faith Jn 4-42 (210d) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our savior >> Jesus is the savior of the world – Confessing Jesus as the savior of the world was something not even the Jews understood. The problem with so many Jews in those days, they thought they knew the truth. Jesus couldn’t tell them anything; apparently bullheadedness and religiosity is invisible to those who walk in them. Jesus came in a form different from what they were expecting, and so they rejected Him. They were looking for someone who would deliver them from their enemies the Romans, but they misunderstood the Scriptures, and Israel skipped over a 2000-year age of grace, where we currently find ourselves at the tail end of it, though it was clearly written what they would do to Him (see Isaiah 53). If their Scriptures said that their Messiah would be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, why didn’t they see it in Jesus? They chose to overlook it. The Jews gave Him grief and then refused to see it on His face, but the Samaritans understood it by a sense of humility they cultivated through the anguish of social alienation. The Jews were intent on seeing the glory of God rather than the humility of Christ. They refused to see their Messiah in relation to a spiritual kingdom that He would build in the hearts of men who would believe in Him for eternal life, that they might invite His physical kingdom to the earth that would eventually come in the Millennium. The Church never obeyed God consistently enough to invite the Kingdom of God to this earth, for God will not force Himself on anyone, and so He never returned, but a day is coming when God Himself will create a people, “having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless” (Eph 5-27), who will worship God in Spirit and truth, and invite Jesus Christ to the earth, setting up his physical kingdom after he had completely obliterated the kingdoms of this world. See also: Rejecting Christ; Jn 4-39; 150g KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4-43,44 (70g) Authority >> Sin of familiarity >> Familiar with the truth-enemy of discernment >> Familiar with Jesus in the flesh – Jesus preached the word of God and drew a crowd and performed a couple miracles among His friends and family members in his own hometown, and they took Him has having gone crazy. When someone performs miracles and they call him crazy, they are missing the point. Crazy people can claim to perform miracles, but if they can actually do it, they are not crazy. After performing miracles, they should have said, ‘He must be from God,’ but they were unwilling to admit it. This is called the sin of familiarity. He was in His own hometown, among His relatives, people who grew up with Him, and they personally knew Him for thirty years, and they never suspected He was their Messiah. The disciples never suspected Judas Iscariot of betraying Jesus either; so righteous souls can hide among their friends and family just like devils can hide among the saints. The facts were staring them in the face; all they had to do was observe what was happening, but they had already made up their minds that Jesus was no one special. He was the son of Joseph, a carpenter’s son, the son of Mary, and He lived in a house no better than their own. They had made up their minds and were unwilling to recalculate a more accurate identity of their neighborhood friend and relative. (152g) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> Witnesses of the father >> Prophets >> Jesus is a prophet >> Jesus prophesies to the world -- These verses go with verses 16-19. Jesus was not received in His hometown or even in his own country, so He went to Galilee instead, and for this same reason they send missionaries to other countries. If only missionaries understood they were prophets to the people they visited, they might better realize their authority and status among those they evangelized. They don’t just come to preach the gospel of Christ; they come as prophets with all the authority of a prophet. God willingly manifests Himself in the ministry of evangelism more than in any other ministry, but let the evangelist be warned, although Jesus attracted thousands wherever He went, they mostly came for a free meal (Jn 6-26) and to see His miracles. God wants to demonstrate that His word is truth and confirm His holy servants in the sight of all by working signs and wonders, so people might believe and be saved. This is how a missionary ought to conduct His ministry, but in today’s world we go overseas as missionaries incognito, often posing as English teachers. How are we supposed to reach the lost with an imperceptible ministry? It makes it look like we are ashamed of our own gospel. When countries open their borders and allow missionaries to openly bring the gospel to the people, great things happen, South Africa, for example. Their openness to the gospel has led thousands of people to believe in Jesus. See also: Pray for the missionaries we send; Heb 13-18; 76j Jn 4-44 (199a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Frustrating the grace of God >> Frustrating Jesus >> Frustrating Jesus’ ministry KJV WEB / Navigation Bar / Parallel Gospel Jn 4-45 (147a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Remember Jesus’ miracles – The thing Jesus did at the feast refers to Him driving out the merchants of the temple with a whip (Jn 2,13-19). When people saw Jesus performing signs, they figured that whatever He says must be important, and so they listened to Him. The purpose of performing signs and wonders is to authenticate the person performing them and to open the people’s minds to believe in the gospel. Signs and wonders always occur whenever there is a change in covenants or at the beginning of a new age. Whenever God visits mankind signs and miracles accompany His presents, in that He is above His creation and is not subject to its laws and principles. The reason we don’t see many miracles in our day is that we are not experiencing a change in covenants at this time. That doesn’t mean we can’t pray and asked God for miracles, for He still works among His people who believe in Him (Jm 5,13-15). Jesus performed miracles for the purpose of getting people’s attention to hear the gospel, inciting them to believe in Him, which is different from what James taught, healing for the sake of healing. Then again, there are people who are sick and pray in faith and are still not healed. God uses our hardships as well as His healing power to teach us about Himself. On the one hand, we ask and He gives, and so we understand God that way; and on the other hand we ask and don’t receive, forcing us to trust Him through our circumstances, and in that we learn about God, so whether He heals us or not we learn about Him, and that is what matters to God about us in this life. Jn 4,46-53 (145a) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Healing >> Methods of healing >> Healed by speaking the word – Jesus wanted this man to be like the centurion who stated, “Just say the word, and my servant will be healed….” Replying to this Jesus said, “I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel” (Mat 8,8-10). Jesus used this word “faith” in reference to the centurion’s understanding of authority. The Kingdom of God works under a hierarchy of authority. The power of God is demonstrated through a chain of command, and the centurion understood this. Jesus spoke the oracle of His Father, who did whatever He said, because Jesus lived and walked under complete submission to Him. He understood that there was a whole spiritual realm involved in the work that Jesus was doing, that the entire Kingdom of Heaven descended to Him and was performing the ministry all around Him. God superimposes Himself upon the word that we believe and obey. Jn 4-48 (20f) Sin >> Nature of sin >> Seeking a sign Jn 4,49-53 (114a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Obeying the Holy Spirit >> Believing the Father by obeying the Son >> Obeying Jesus’ word (208b) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The kindness of God >> You and your household shall be saved – It said that his whole household believed with him. This has to do with the man’s role in the house as leader. No one wants to follow a wicked man, but people will follow a humble man who understands and respects authority. Jn 4-49,50 (241d) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Hindering the kingdom >> Obstacles in the way of the kingdom >> Ask but don’t receive >> Getting an answer that is not in your will Jn 4-54 -- No Entries See next page