How Soul Thirst is Satisfied

The point: Seek to discover how Christ meets soul thirst in order to see the basic path by which He always meets the deepest soul thirst of all who come unto God by Him.

The Samaritan woman is presented as a 'picture of every man, every woman' who has not drunk of the water of life, illustrating universal soul thirst.

This woman is not just alone. She is a picture of every man, every woman, every fellow, every girl, who has not drunk of the water of life. Thirsting. Coming to a fountain that can never quench that thirst, but coming again and again, and in that situation, the Lord Jesus speaks and tells her how her deepest soul thirst can be fully and eternally met.

5:28 - 5:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to discover how Christ meets soul thirst in order to see the basic path by which He always meets the deepest soul thirst of all who come unto God by Him.

The sense of unfulfillment due to a 'vacated God' is described as gnawing 'like a terrible cancer at the hearts of men,' emphasizing its destructive nature.

And though sin has caused us, as it were, to cause God to vacate His place of rightful dwelling, there is that sense of unfulfillment that gnaws like a terrible cancer at the hearts of men. Men do not by nature hunger after God. That concept is explicitly denied in Scripture. There is none that seeketh after God.

6:17 - 6:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to discover how Christ meets soul thirst in order to see the basic path by which He always meets the deepest soul thirst of all who come unto God by Him.

Saint Augustine's famous quote, 'Thou hast made us for thyself, and our souls are restless till they rest in Thee,' is used to articulate the inherent human longing for God.

But they do hunger to have God. They have that emptiness filled. The problem is they seek to fill it with everything, but the only thing that can fill it. Hence the famous words of Saint Augustine, Thou hast made us for thyself, and our souls are restless till they rest in Thee.

6:44 - 7:06 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that Jesus Christ stands by every well at which you seek to satisfy soul thirst and declares, 'Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.'

Jacob's literal well, unable to provide permanent satisfaction, becomes a graphic picture of 'every single well at which men seek to satisfy the deepest thirst of the soul.'

And when He said, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again, He was referring, of course, to that particular well and the water it contained. He was not in any way limiting the meaning of His words to that, for remember, He is dealing with water here in a double meaning continually. And He is speaking of water as the supply which meets the deepest thirst, not of the mouth and of the tongue, but the deepest thirst of the soul. And just as that literal well of Jacob had no ability to bring permanent satisfaction, but this woman had to come day by day to fill her water pots, so that task ...

8:31 - 9:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Hear the words of Christ: 'whoever drinks of this well [of sensual pleasure] shall thirst again.'

Marilyn Monroe is cited as an example of someone who sought satisfaction in sensual delights but ultimately found no lasting fulfillment, illustrating that 'whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again.'

I'm talking to some of you young men and women that can't until you can abandon yourselves to the words of Christ, whoever drinks of this well shall thirst again. Some of us have lived to witness those who have made no apology, and at this well they, as the sex symbol of the fifties, Marilyn Monroe did, at age of the devil, who could never have one fop that knew of truth, that you'll be satisfied whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. And in the second place, there is the well of what I'm calling people say, well,

13:18 - 14:40 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He identifies recreation, music, art, and a return to nature as other 'wells' people turn to, arguing that while innocent in themselves, they cannot satisfy the soul's deepest…

The movement of people seeking fulfillment by moving to communes and living off the earth is given as an example of seeking satisfaction in 'diversion and aesthetic delights.'

soul thirst can be filled if we can have all the recreation that we need. In sports, in music, in art, the beautiful things. We have a movement that says if only we can get back to the earth, if we can move out of the city and the smoke and the din of subways and buses and all of this mad suburban life and inner city life and go back to the earth, get our fingers in the dirt, and get the dirt under our fingernails, and so you have people moving out in communes to live off the earth, the simple life. Why?

14:40 - 15:19 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He identifies recreation, music, art, and a return to nature as other 'wells' people turn to, arguing that while innocent in themselves, they cannot satisfy the soul's deepest…

A man trying to quench physical thirst by chewing on a tennis racket is used as a vivid, absurd analogy to show how impossible it is to fill soul thirst with material possessions.

Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again. Well, then there's the well of material. The scripture says God has given us all things richly to enjoy, but those things were never given to meet soul thirst. What would you think if you were driving down the road, one of these days, and you passed the park where these people play tennis, prostituting the Lord's day, but on another day, when it's all right to play tennis, and you saw a man there, his lips parched, as you see mine are sometimes when I preach, and he knows saliva, and he's dry.

16:30 - 17:03 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He argues that knowledge and understanding, while valuable, cannot satisfy the soul, just as rocks cannot satisfy physical hunger, citing Paul's words about the world's wisdom.

Stuffing a bread box with rocks to satisfy hunger is used as an analogy to demonstrate the futility of trying to satisfy the soul's needs with intellectual knowledge.

The world by its wisdom knew not God. Again, the needs of the soul cannot be satisfied by cramming the head with knowledge any more than stuffing a bread box with rocks that fills your stomach. Again, you'd say that'd be stupid if I see a man who says he's hungry and I see him putting rocks in a bread box. I'd say, What in the world are you doing?

19:59 - 20:24 Read in full sermon

The point: You'll never know the water of life until you're ready to be honest about the sin of your life, relationships, attitudes, and deeds.

Martin uses the act of drinking water from a glass to illustrate the appropriating act of faith, where sufficient water is taken into one's system and becomes a part of them.

Drinking is an appropriating act. And it's quite appropriate that I should illustrate it right now because I'm thirsty and I need a drink. What is drinking for me right now? It is the appropriating act by which the water that is sufficient for my need but is poor and is presently found within the confines of that pretty glass is taken out of the glass into my system and the water becomes me.

39:29 - 39:58 Read in full sermon