IT IS FINISHED
(RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS PART 2)

John 4:6-10 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

• It was finished that day for the woman of Samaria – her old life of sin and ugliness.
• Notice that she had five husbands and the one she was with was not her own.
• She lived common law with five men, most likely, and the last man she was with was another’s husband since he was not her own.
• BUT JESUS DID NOT DEMEAN HER FOR THAT.
• SHE WAS IN SIN, AND HE CAME TO RESCUE HER.
• I LIKE HOW JESUS DEALS WITH OUR PROBLEMS SO LOVINGLY AND THOUGHTFULLY.

• Last week we discussed how Jesus indicated our lives would change at the well of living waters.
• Sychar, where Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman about living waters, was where Jacob bought land and made his first altar ot God.
• It was precisely where Joseph’s bones were buried when finally Israel came into the promised land.
• It was where Joshua told Israel all things must change if they would serve God – no idols, no living as they had been.
• And here, Jesus made the woman realize that receiving the living waters would change her life only if she truly understood what it was all about of which he was speaking. (John 4).

Chapter 7 shows us that the living waters are the SPIRIT – the Holy Ghost

John 7:37-39 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

• MATTHEW HENRY SAID:

• On the last day of the feast of tabernacles, the Jews drew water and poured it out before the Lord. It is supposed that Christ alluded to this. If any man desires to be truly and for ever happy, let him apply to Christ, and be ruled by him. This thirst means strong desires after spiritual blessings, which nothing else can satisfy; so the sanctifying and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit, were intended by the waters which Jesus called on them to come to Him and drink. The comfort flows plentifully and constantly as a river; strong as a stream to bear down the opposition of doubts and fears. There is a fulness in Christ, of grace for grace. The Spirit dwelling and working in believers, is as a fountain of living, running water, out of which plentiful streams flow, cooling and cleansing as water. These streams have flowed from our glorified Redeemer, down to this age, and to the remote corners of the earth. May we be anxious to make them known to others.

• Jesus Christ spoke out loud on the cross, when He died. IT IS FINISHED.
• And from His side came water and blood.
• Since blood is LIFE of the flesh, we see a picture of living water coming from His side.
• When the Holy Ghost comes into your life, everything about your old ways is finished.
• You have decided to serve God and serve none else.
• You are finished on two counts.
  • You are dedicated to Him.
  • And your life is changed by God.
• When you come to the well of living water, and believe, you will never be the same again,

Every instance in the Bible where it is finished, or it is done, is spoken by God, we see a note of the RIVER OF LIFE.

• …because you cannot change unless God’s Spirit is in you.
• I met folks who merely repented and their lives were freed from alcohol and other things, yet they themselves were not changed as to their very beings.
• We can become religious and attend church, whcih we need to do, but we must go past that and receive God’s Spirit to CHANGE “US”.

DANIEL

Daniel 12:5-7 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished.

• When we see a river in Daniel, and Jesus speaking, we hear Him say IT IS FINSIHED.
• THE RIVER IS THE SYMBOL OF A FINISH AND AN END.
• The man upon the river said, “all these things shall be finished.”
• The end of the age is referred to.
• The end of all things.
• God’s Spirit shall flow and those redeemed shall experience eternity with the Lord.

Rev 21:4-7 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

• YOU HAVE TO WANT IT.
• Be thirsty.

• ALPHA AND OMEGA.
• Beginning and ending.
• From Genesis when the River of Life flowed, to Revelation, when all sin is removed, Jesus was both in the beginning and at the ending.
• The old world with the original River, fell into sin.
• God reckoned that whole creation “OLD”.
• The Bible calls anything of the world of sin “OLD”.
• He makes all things new again.
• A river of life flows again.
• A new garden of Eden stands for the sons of God.
• Adam was put aside and Jesus became the last man Adam.
• People must get out of Adam and get into the new Adam.
• Everything and anything that matters is in Jesus alone.
• He is the beginning and the ending.
• Throughout Bible, the older brother represented the OLD, and the younger brother, the struggle against the old to do God’s will.
  • CAIN AND ABEL, ISHMAEL AND ISAAC, ESAU AND JACOB
  • They show this struggle of flesh against Spirit. Thsi struggle occurs involving OLD CREATION and NEW CREATION.
• God knew what would happen.
• He knew man would sin before man sinned.
• But He did not CAUSE man to sin.
• And back then, as God saw Jacob and Esau’s actions before they were born, and said Jacob have I loved, He looked upon creation and said, THE NEW CREATION HAVE I LOVED…

• While the old existed and became wrong, the new came into being.
• The old fought against the new.
  • God cast Cain out of the land after he killed Abel.
  • God cast Ishmael away from Isaac in Abraham’s house.
  • God separated Esau from Jacob and blessed Jacob.
• Each one of us had to face the old when confronted by the new.
• Face ourselves.
• Face our old lives.
• The part of us that became the NEW when we accepted God’s Spirit had to be prioritized and the OLD ways of drinking and carousing and sinning had to go.
• The woman at the well had five husbands and lived with one who was not her husband but another’s.
• That lifestyle had to end.

• The pleasures of life are like cisterns.
• They hold only so much.
• Someone told me they seen the pleasures of life as temporary.
  • You enjoy it while it occurs, but when it is over the joy is gone.
  • Muddy waters and broken cisterns at best.
• But God’s joy is a river of living water.

Rev 22:1-3 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, [was there] the tree of life, which bare twelve [manner of] fruits, [and] yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree [were] for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

• From the throne of God and the lamb, as from the cross, flowed a river of life.
• The streams of the world are muddy and give you ilness and death.
• FROM THE THRONE OF GOD AND THE LAMB comes a river clear as crystal.
• Over and again we see the dual aspects of the river flowing from God and the Lamb. as seen in the following verses.

John 14:16-18 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:7-15 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.

Acts 1:4 And, being assembled together with [them], commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, [saith he], ye have heard of me.

IN ACTS 2, WHEN THEY RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST, PETER SAID:

Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

• Ezekiel seen rivers coming from the temple.

Ezek 47:1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house [stood toward] the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south [side] of the altar.

• And we read the following:

Reve 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

• God and the Lamb are the temple, from which flowed the River, just as God and the Lamb possessed a throne and the river came from the throne.
• The Holy Ghost is the River which comes from God and the Lamb.
• Ezekiel seen a vision representing God and the Lamb issuing forth the Holy Ghost.

Jesus said, He is a well of living water for those who believe, when He spoke to the woman at the well.

• But He also said that well would BE IN US!!!

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

THE FATHER AND THE LAMB ARE IN US WHEN WE HAVE THE SPIRIT IN US

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

• THAT IS WHY A WELL WOULD BE IN US.

Reve 16:16-17 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.

• OUT OF THE TEMPLE, WHICH ACTUALLY IS GOD AND THE LAMB, COMES A VOICE SAYING IT IS FINISHED.
• WHENEVER GOD SAID THAT, WE READ ELSEWHERE OF A RIVER.
• THE VOICE ISSUES FROM THE THRONE LIKE A RIVER.
• GOD’S ANOINTED PREACHING IS THE RIVER OF LIFE, ALSO.
• IT IS FROM THE THRONE SAYING IT IS FINISHED, FROM WHICH THE RIVER FLOWS IN REV 22.

Reve 16:18-20 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, [and] so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

• …JUST LIKE THE MOMENT JESUS DIED, AN EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED

Matt 27:50-52 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

• (THE OTHER GOSPELS TELL US WHAT THE LOUD VOICE WAS)
• “IT IS FINISHED”

• A battle wages in your soul when you come to the well.
• Armageddon occurs in every life – the showdown between good and evil – when one comes to the River with a thirst the world cannot quench.
• A battle occurred on the cross.
• Jesus won the victory and died, saying IT IS FINISHED.
• A battle of ages – for your soul and mine.
• SIN and DEATH and HELL and SATAN were conquered.
• For all those who would THIRST, the NEW has won out and you are guaranteed victory and a change of life if you take the NEW.

• The battle is waged when you hear about the Spirit of God.
• Armageddon came one day for that little woman of Samaria.
  • The battle waged as she did not fully accept Jesus’ words that day.
  • Jesus said she needs the well.
  • She said, “Let me have this water so I do not have to come here anymore.”
  • Jesus said “Go bring your husband.”
  • She said, “I have no husband.”
  • Jesus said, “Correct. You had five and the one you’re with now is someone else’s.”
  • She said, “But we worship here in the mountain and you worship in Jerusalem.”
  • Jesus said you must worship in spirit.
  • She said, “But we will hear all things from the messiah”.
  • Jesus said, “I am the messiah.”
  • FINALLY JESUS WON – she became a follower.

• WHEN JESUS SAID IT IS FINISHED, A SOLDIER OPENED HIS SIDE AND OUT CAME LIVING WATER.
  • When He sees your true repentance, and see that your old life really is finished with you, the river flows to you giving eternal life.

• You will not receive the Holy Ghost if you are not honest with God.
• If you pity yourself, and complain about all your problems, God sees you’re not thirsty enough – you’d rather have pity that life.

Psa 114:7-8 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock [into] a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

• The God of JACOB turned rock into standing water.
• Jesus at Jacob’s well.
• Jacob’s God was Jacob’s well.