From Wells of Strife to Living Water

Summary

The evening opened with a testimony drawn from Genesis 26, where Isaac reopens the wells his father Abraham had dug and the Philistines had stopped up. The first two wells brought only quarrels, so he named them after contention and strife and would not drink from them, until he found a well of peace where God said, "Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful." The preacher tied this to a relief trip into wartime Ukraine, where the destruction near Kakhovka left Nikopol without water and a single bottle could cost five dollars. Driving past checkpoints and through shelling, they could not drill in the open, so they drilled a well of living water right inside a church.

From there he challenged a comfortable, blessed congregation: God blesses His people so they can be both blessed and a blessing to others, never a source of strife. Recalling Mandela inviting his former prison guard to dinner, he reminded everyone that hatred has never built anything, only love and blessing do.

The main study moved to Romans 3. Israel's great advantage was being entrusted with the Word of God, yet that made no one righteous: Scripture says none is righteous, none seeks God, all have turned aside, and the law only stops every mouth and exposes sin. But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has appeared through faith in Jesus Christ. Whoever believes and repents is justified freely by grace, made a brand new creation with a clean slate, and is called to put off the old self and be renewed in mind and heart.

Key Points

• Isaac walked away from the wells he named for contention and strife, refusing to feed the quarrel, and waited for the well of peace where God gave him room.
• Keep your home and your church free of wells of strife, because nothing good for the soul ever comes out of them.
• God blesses His people so they can be a blessing to others; love and blessing build what hatred never can.
• Being born into the right family or knowing the Bible does not make anyone righteous - Scripture says none is righteous, not one.
• The law cannot change us; it only silences every mouth and exposes our sin.
• Now, apart from the law, God's righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ; justified freely by grace, we become a new creation with a clean slate.
• Renew your mind daily and put off the old self, living by the law of faith like Abraham, who did not waver at God's promise.