Good evening.  By show of hands, are there any people here tonight who have sinned?

Now, you are probably thinking, “Well yea stupid.  We have all sinned.  So why ask such an obvious question?”  Sometimes we classify and justify our sins long enough that we become unaware of what a stronghold they have on us.  A good name for these kinds of sins would be “pet sins.”  These are the sins in your life that you ask God to forgive and then go right back to them over and over again.  Sin separates and distances our relationship with God.  No, you don’t lose your salvation, but the joy that you once had in Christ is no longer there.

But don’t you want total freedom from sin?  Don’t you want your relationship with God to be like never before?  You say, “What’s the use, I will always sin anyway?”  I would ask you today, “Are you so unconcerned about where you stand with God that you don’t want to grow up?”

As we begin this new series tonight, it is titled, “Finding Freedom From Sin.”

What do you think causes us to not be able to be freed from sin?

Well, this series is meant as a way for us to open ourselves up and to realize that the sin we are caught in can and will cause us problems when it comes to our relationship with Christ.

I also want you to realize that when we talk about past sins that we have faced, realize that regardless how bad or not bad you think your sin is, it is still sin and God hates all sin!  Through this process, we are going to attempt to find a way to free ourselves from the sin that we are caught in.

Before we start though, what are some way that you think we could free ourselves from sin?

Well, if we want to grow closer to God, then we must draw closer to God and that means you have to be clean from the sin in your life.  Go ahead and turn with me to John 4:7-30.  Here in this passage of scripture we find the encounter that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman.  Let’s go ahead and read that passage.  John 4:7-30 says, “1”

Now, before we move on, let’s begin with a word of prayer.  Let’s Pray!

Now, are there any aspects of this passage that you find interesting when it comes to freeing ourselves from sin?

Well, the things that I picked out from this passage are lessons on Selection, Satisfactions, and Spending.  And that is what we are going to look at this evening concerning this passage.

First, Is Selection.

What selections or choices did the woman have as she stood at the well?

What were the results or the benefits of each?

Here is an observation concerning selection: there are 2 kinds of water.  First, there is “This water,” which would not satisfy and would not quench a person’s thirst.  Now matter what you do, you can never quench that thirst.  The woman would have to keep coming back again and again to get more of “this water.”  But then there is a second option to consider, and that is, “The water I (Jesus) give.”  The difference is that this water that Jesus gives would quench thirst for all of eternity.

Now, that was my observation about the selection.  Here is the fact: the woman’s testimony.  Jesus brought up the fact that the woman had 5 ex-husbands and a current, I guess you could say, “live-in boyfriend.”  She could not find satisfaction so she kept going back to find a new love.  Each time I am sure she hoped it would be her last time to go searching.  But notice that Jesus brought up the fact that her thirst could not be quenched because she was drinking from the wrong water.  What she needed was the water that Jesus was offering to her.

Now here is the application: it is all about our testimony.  What kind of water have you been drinking spiritually?  If you have been trying to find satisfaction in life through anything or anyone besides Jesus Christ you will always come away thirsty.  The sad thing about it is, as Christians, we have that pure water from Jesus Christ and yet we still chose to drink the sewer water sometimes.

But, there is a way to have your thirst quenched.  The Second Thing That We See Is Satisfaction.

What was it from this passage that was going to be satisfying?

Well, here is my observation: in order to be satisfied, we need to drink from the living water.  Jesus offered this woman living water.  He said that if she drank it she would not be thirsty anymore.  This kind of water would quench the thirst and take care of her problems for all eternity.

Here is the fact once again: the woman’s testimony.  How simple right?  I mean all she had to do was drink this new, pure water and her thirst would be quenched.  Do you get what I am telling you?  She just had to trade out the water that she was drinking for this new and better water.  But sometimes it is hard to do that.  Why is it so hard for us to trade out the old water for Christ’s pure water?

Okay, and here is the application: it deals with our testimony.  The first part of putting away a particular sin in your life is simply replacing that sin, that sewer water, with things of God, or the pure water.  That means whatever that habitual sin is that you have quit a million times and kept going back to must be dropped off at the feet of Jesus and left there.  It is not that we can’t let it go as much as we don’t want to let it go.  You know, “I just can’t make it without … (and then fill in the blank with your favorite sin).”

But do you really want satisfaction through Christ?  I mean a permanent satisfaction that will take care of every need in your life both now and for all eternity.  Ezekiel 20:7 says, “And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt.  I am the Lord your God.””

And That Brings Us To Our Final Topic For Tonight, We Have Spending.

How did this woman spend her life?

Well, here is my observation: we need to learn how to drink.  Turn with me to Isaiah 55:1-3 and we are going to learn not only where to find this water but how to drink of it.  In other words, we are going to learn how to spend our lives for the right reasons.  Isaiah 55:1-3 says, “2”

Now, let me ask you some questions from these verses and let’s find the answers together.  He says, “Come, all you who are thirsty.”  Alright, well I am thirsty, I want that water, I will come.

But where do I come to quench my thirst?  (Come to the water)

You know what, that makes sense; if I am thirsty I should come to the waters, but where are the waters?

“Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.”  Do you see the answer?  The water is in the Word of God.  Drinking comes by listening.  The Bible is our source of true refreshment and quenching of our thirst.

So that leads us to the fact, and that is the woman’s testimony.  The woman had been spending her life on things that did not matter or satisfy.  But we see here tonight and we realize that she came to the pure water of Jesus and she drank of it.

And that just leaves us with the application: what is our testimony.  We have the pure water of Jesus Christ.  We are given the answers in the Bible.  So do you drink from this living water, or do you try to find the answers and solutions to your thirst somewhere else?

Now, before we wrap things up this evening, does anyone have anything that they would like to add?

Well, if there is nothing else, as we close this evening, I want us to look at a couple more passages of scripture.  Jeremiah 2:13 says, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”  God is the spring of living water.  He is the only source of life, refreshment, and nourishment for us.  He is always fresh and new, like a spring, and to “drink” of God is to receive life and be totally satisfied.

Turning back over and over to your pet sin is like trying to get water from a jar with holes in it.  Now, before we close tonight, I want you to notice just one more thing with me.  Read with me John 4:28-30 one more time.  It says in John 4:28-30 that, “1”

After speaking with Jesus, the woman at the well went back into town.  But what did she do with her water jar?  (She left it with Jesus)

Have you left the sewer water of your life with Jesus or do you keep trying to take it back?  This sermon is good news for us because we can learn to leave the sewer water behind and drink from the living water that Jesus offers us that will always quench our thirst.

Let’s Pray!