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John 7:37-39
I'd like for you to turn with me to the Gospel of John as we return back to this wonderful study, the Gospel of John. For the past month, we took a break from our study to commemorate our 7th anniversary, but today we return here to our wonderful text in this chapter.
And in chapter 7, I just want to read three verses, and I believe this is, I may break this up into two parts because there's so much here. What our Lord says is always, the eternity, the eternal weight is in the Word of God.
God's Word has such eternal weight to it. We could look at the smallest verse, the shortest verse in Scripture, Jesus wept, and never squeeze everything out of that because it has such eternal weight to it.
And there's no way that this little preacher can do justice to this. Keep in mind this, the power is not in the messenger. I don't care who the messenger is. The power is in the Word of God. George Whitefield said, many could preach better Gospel messages than I could preach.
But he said, no one could preach a better Gospel. And I said, that's a humble man there because he realized, and that's why God used him. He prayed and trusted in the Lord and he stood and fell before God before he talked to men.
He talked with God frequently, speaking with God, and he knew that that's where the power of his ministry was. That is the ministry. As a matter of fact, I don't care what preacher it is and who it is and how great he can articulate.
If he doesn't go to God in prayer, there is no ministry. I agree with Ravenhill, no man's greater than his prayer life. Owen says, what we are before God is who we are, who you are before God and nothing else.
So we need to keep that in mind that the power and the weight is in the Word of the living God. God's Word goes forth and it does not return void. I don't know about you, this is where the well, the living water flows from.
And Jesus is the fountainhead. Now, this message today should be very real to us because, number one, it's hot in here today. And I want to remind everybody, with a gentle reminder, in a reality, there's a much hotter place.
And we all deserve that place, don't we?
Keep that in mind.
You could be in boiling heat until 110 degrees out there and be boiling and be burned. And that's still much cooler than hellfire. I want you to think of this, during this time to beat the heat, how do you beat the heat?
I don't think there's a better way to beat the heat than to have a nice tall glass of cold water. Now, I love Gatorade and I love those other wonderful drinks, I'm a sweet tea lover. But I don't think there's anything more refreshing than ice cold water on a hot summer day.
And you know what I'm talking about because now the heat's kicked up pretty hard. Especially you guys that work in it, right? We were talking yesterday as we were moving Sister Fee and Brother Keith, how a lot of the Hispanics and many others, just not them, but many others get on top of the roofs.
And I mean, just don't tell them what the temperature could be. Would you at least guess over 110, isn't it, Brother Keith? Maybe more. With the asphalt roofs, the tree workers, the people that work out in the sun, asphalt workers, how do they do it?
Well, I work out in the weather as well and I get pretty heated up and right now my air conditioner is broken in my milk truck and I'm not talking about the back of it, I'm talking about the cab and I'm pouring sweat and boy, it's a relief to get back in that cool, cool part of that compartment where that milk is.
But you know what I'm talking about, it's very real. This message should come across very realistic to us because here we are, it's quite warm in here and the summer days are very hot. But God has a refreshment for all of us, spiritually speaking.
And that refreshment is found in living waters. The living waters that comes and the symbolism here is the Holy Spirit. And keep in mind that Jesus said He would go to the Father when He was raised from the dead.
He told His disciples, He gave the promise of the Father. He says, I will pray to the Father and He will send you another comforter. And that comforter is the Spirit of God that comes to reside within us.
Can you imagine that? That's one of the greatest miracles to those who believe and are regenerate that the Spirit of the living God comes to abide within us. You are the habitation of God, the Spirit of God comes and does not leave you as an orphan.
He comes as the other paraclete, Jesus says another comforter. Jesus is the original paraclete and another paraclete will come, another comforter will come and He will not leave you without aid. He is your helper.
So God has not in this journey that's very difficult, has not left us as orphans. He comes alongside us and alongside He gives refreshments, refreshing of living water. And I'm going to tell you, the Word of God is full of scriptures that speak about living water.
Well, hear the Word of the living God from chapter 7, verse 37 -39 and hear what the Lord Jesus Christ says about the promise of the Holy Spirit. On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out.
Listen to that, He cried out. If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart or his innermost being, as another translation says, will flow rivers of living water.
But this He spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing Him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. May God bless the reading of His Word from our ears to our hearts this morning.
Please bow with me in prayer as we seek our Lord's blessing and face. Our Father and our great God, we thank You for this hour, for this time that we have that You have blessed us so much with and Lord, I pray that Your Word, which You have promised will go forth, will not return void.
Lord, change our lives this morning. You, oh Jesus, our great Savior and Lord, Father in heaven, You have blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven and the heavenly places in Christ, Your Son.
Lord, we praise You, we adore You, we thank You for this great salvation that has come to us through Your beloved Son, through His virgin birth, through His perfect life of righteousness, through His all-sufficient death that atoned for our sin by His precious blood that washes away every stain, every guilt.
Father, for His blessed burial that took our sin far away as far as the east from the west and blew it apart in His glorious, glorious resurrection.
That gives us a living hope.
Of eternal life that we do not have to fear death.
And knowing.
Because Jesus lives, we can live also. All these great blessings and benefits comes to us, oh Father, through that sacrificial Lamb of God that paid the sin debt for us, took our places to substitute Lamb of God in His loving kindness.
Oh Father, all because You loved us and gave us this gift, this unspeakable gift. So now, Father, I pray thank You again for Your mercy, Your goodness and now Father, we need Thy blessed Holy Spirit as we're speaking about this morning.
Through Your Word.
We need.
It's not sufficient enough for us to just know this in our head, Father, we must have it in our hearts. Open our eyes, anoint our eyes with eye salve that we may see Christ. Open our deaf ears, oh Father, that we may hear Your words of life and most important, Lord, give us a heart to receive of all that You have blessed us with in Jesus, Your Son and Lord,.
We will be careful to give You.
All the praise as we sung earlier, all the honor,.
All the glory.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, according to.
Verse 2.
Of John chapter 7, the Jews.
At the Feast of.
Tabernacles was at hand. The Jews were merely celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. It's called also the Feast of the Booths.
This was a feast.
That occurred during the first part of the month of October, if you would put it in our time frame.
In our month.
But during this seven-day feast, the Jews lived in booths made of tree branches to commemorate their forefathers' pilgrimage through the wilderness, and you will read that in Exodus, and you can also it's repeated in the book of Numbers.
On each.
Of these seven days, the high priest would go to the pool of Siloam and draw out water in a golden vessel. This water would be poured out on the altar where the parts of the sacrifice was arranged. The last day of the feast would be the seventh day on which the priest would march seven times around the altar, singing the Hallel from Psalm 118, especially verse 25, Save now, I pray, O Yahweh, O Yahweh, I pray, send now prosperity.
And as the procession continued by the high priest back to the temple, he would go to the water gate on the south side of the inner temple court. Three trumpets blast were made to make the joy, I'm sorry, the bark of joy of the occasion of the people, and they would also recite Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3, which says,.
With joy you.
Will draw water from the wells of salvation. This they did. And the timing that the Lord has when He stands up to cry out what He cries out is perfect timing. And thousands of people are there hearing this.
Now, during this time of the temple, while all lurkers watched, which were thousands, this is when the priest would march around the altar, as I said, with the water containers, and while the temple choir would sing the Hallel, which is basically from Psalm 113 to Psalm 118.
The water, which is very significant here, folks, is.
Huge, because it was.
Offered in the sacrifice as sacrifice to God at the morning sacrifice. The use of the water, again, symbolized the blessing not only of the Holy Spirit, but also adequate rainfall for the crops. How critical it is for farmers to have the food that we have that they depend upon the rain.
That comes from God, that God supplies.
And every time we have rain coming on a hot day, it's so refreshing and doesn't it give us cause to praise God. Thank you, Lord, for the rain that you're giving. But we also are living.
Spiritually speaking.
During the time of the church age, of the dispensation of grace here, that we're living in a dry time, that there is a famine in the land for the word of God, and we need that refreshing from the Spirit of God.
And the only way it could come is through.
This preached word. That's how the Reformation came about. As one historian says, it wasn't Martin Luther that reformed the church. Luther basically said it was the word of God.
And if.
We're going to see revival or a new Reformation within the church today, it must be through the word of God. God's word and God's word alone. And it must come through messengers that have been humbled and broken.
And.
Dependent upon God. Because if anybody is dependent on their eloquency and their brains, it's not going to happen.
It would just be.
Dead orthodoxy. And God help us. I say that to remind myself. I said, I don't want to depend on just my articulation or my brains even though God does work through our minds by means, but we must depend on the Spirit of the living God to work through His word.
We were talking about also yesterday how it's scary the days we're living in and you have these iPhones and the knowledge filling the whole earth and now you have this AI, artificial intelligence. You know what I'm talking about.
People are leaning on that and not God. They're even incorporating it in church worship services. You might as well just throw out the Holy Spirit.
You might as well throw out God.
In prayer. If people's going to lean on their own understanding,.
That's what it is.
Depending on an artificial intelligence that's by a computer. That's sad. But here, they depend upon the rainfall for the crops. And since Israel, by the way, keep this in mind, in the Middle East was a very dry and desolate, hot land.
It's very hot, much hotter than here. As you well know, it's desolate, it's dry. I've never been there, but I've spoke to people that's been there and they said it's very hot. And that's why you see them wrapped up in turbans and tourniquets and all this because they're trying to protect themselves from the heat.
And it was this very significant time that our Lord and Master and Savior Jesus used this event at the last day of the feast as an object lesson. An opportunity by the providence of God to make a very public invitation on the last day of the feast for His people to receive Him as the fountain of living water.
Folks, this is the heart of God. That God.
Desires people to come unto His Son.
That's the invitation.
And this is the first invitation. Jesus gave the invitation several times. Come unto Me, in Matthew 11. All you labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest, soul rest. Take my yoke upon you. My yoke is easy.
My burden's light. He doesn't say there's not going to be a burden. He doesn't say but He does say it's light in comparison to the burden of sin. Because the way of the transgressor is hard. And like I mentioned last Lord's Day, you've got to choose your heart, folks.
It's the way of the cross or it's the way of the transgressor. And like I said, I take the way of the cross.
Any day in comparison.
To a.
Sinner's transgression that will lead right into hellfire for eternity.
But the.
Invitation stands. Jesus stands up and here He is. He is the fountain of living water. Jesus gave His invitation. Thousands would hear and be present to hear Him cry out and everyone who heard Him would have understood what He meant.
Yet we see in verses 40 and 44 we're coming up on, the reception is not too well because it says in verse 40. Therefore many from the crowd when they heard this saying after He cried out, truly this is a prophet.
Others said this is the Christ.
But some said will the.
Christ come out of Galilee? Sounds like people today. Has not the scripture said that Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was? That's correct. Verse 43. So there was a division among the people because of Him.
Now some of them wanted to take Him but no one laid hands on Him and you know why? Because the Father had providentially surrounded Christ, led Christ.
Because His time.
Was not yet. Well that's the response and we're going to be looking at that very shortly in the near future Lord willing. But in these verses in verse 37 to 38 we observe several things and this is my outline.
The first thing we will observe recognize the fountain of living water. We will recognize the fountain of living water. We must recognize who the fountain of living water truly is. The second great truth that we will observe is in verse 38 the rewards of the fountain of living water and third with application given to it in verse 37 once again receiving the fountain of living water with a personal application.
So we're looking at recognizing.
Rewards.
And receiving of the fountain of living water. The first is to recognize the fountain of living water. Recognize the fountain of living water. Verse 37. Once again on the last day of the great feast Jesus stood and notice what the text says.
He cried out. He cried.
Out.
Saying if anyone thirst.
Anyone.
Thirst.
Let him come to me and drink come to me and drink. Jesus proclaims himself to be the place.
Where the living.
Water is to be found. He is the source He is the fountain. Jesus isn't the living water. That's the spirit of the living God. But He is the fountain in which the Holy Spirit flows where the living water can be found throughout the New Testament.
Let me give you an opening here on this to help us understand how important the third person of the Trinity is. In the New Testament water for drinking is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The washing of regeneration of the word which brother Seth talked about this morning in Sunday school about regeneration.
Water is symbolized. We're having a baptism today. Brother Jordan praise God. There's symbolism in water. Now H2O doesn't save but the spirit of the living God does the work within and gives the application to bring us to God.
None of us could come to God unless the spirit of God brings us.
To God.
All the Trinity works together in creation in regeneration, salvation in everything. They're never apart. They are one together.
So.
Here we see throughout the New Testament water is for drinking a symbol of the Holy Spirit. According to the Bible, the word of God it is the spirit of God that comes to wicked sinners like us and shows.
Us.
Shows any wicked sinner their great need of salvation. First there must be the need of recognizing our condition.
We must.
Recognize that we are thirsty souls hungry souls as well. John 16 verse 8 Jesus says this and when He speaks of the spirit of God has come He will convince or convict.
The world.
Of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Verse 9 of sin because they do not believe in me. Verse 10 of righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Verse 11 of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged.
That's the words of Jesus. Now we could preach a full series on this but let me kind of pack this together. It is the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit that applies the word of God to the conviction of our sin and notice what He says.
S-I-N.
Sin, singular not sins, plural singular which indicates a specific sin which is in view that Jesus has in mind here. And what is that? That of not believing.
In Jesus.
Rejecting Christ is the worst of all sins like I mentioned earlier.
Previously.
A few Lords day I talked to a man that he was going on and on about smoking and drinking and all these vices and I said you know you could do all that and there are vices but that's not really what sends people to hell.
Rejecting Jesus Christ is what sends people to hell. That's the most awful of all sins outside of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. But rejecting Jesus Christ this is the only sin.
That ultimately.
Will damn people to eternal hell to suffer under the wrath.
Of a holy God.
People's rejection.
Of Jesus.
So Jesus has this in mind they do not believe in me of righteousness of righteousness.
What's that mean?
Well basically the Holy Spirit's purpose here is to expose our dark hearts.
What does he do?
The light.
The spirit of God he's the spirit of holiness.
Light.
God is light there's no darkness in him at all so he exposes our hypocrisy. He exposes us for who we are our dark hearts of a hypocrisy in pretense pretending to be something that we're not.
Of judgment.
The judgment here in context is speaking of the world under Satan's control. We live in a world that is under Satan's control. He is the ruler of this age he is the prince and the power of the air. Now he has power but we know that God is all powerful.
God permits him.
But God is.
Even over him. I like what Luther said even Satan is on a leash from God but God is the one that's all powerful.
But.
Here it's speaking about that Satan's control is the judgments from the world are blind.
Because.
Their father is of the devil.
That's what Jesus said.
And he said.
And you do the works of your father.
That's why people.
Do the things they do. God is their father or Satan is their father. People don't like to hear that folks but that's the truth.
There's a line.
Of demarcation that's straight and narrow in the word of God the cause of darkness they are children of darkness.
Once we become.
Regenerate regenerate by the spirit of God. We are children of light children of light children of darkness. There's nothing in the middle there's no gray area there.
Faulty, evil.
Evidence and their verdict of Christ. Now this world cannot make righteous judgments can it? Because they don't know God. The spirit of God gives us the righteous judgments to make and those righteous judgments that we know is always with the word of God and it's not the spirit of God if it's outside.
Of this word.
Because there's a lot of people going around saying God told me this and God told me that if it's not thus saith the Lord in this book and as it is written as brother Zach mentioned in the opening that when the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted from the devil he said it is written it is written and then again it is written.
That's the.
Word of God that is the living word quoting the written.
Word.
And if the spirit of God abides within us and if it's a word from the Lord it will always be a thus saith the Lord so don't listen to these false teachers that's going out there and say God told me this like they got a special.
Hotline with God.
Especially this crazy lunatic heretic and I'll say it Kenneth Copeland that goes around says he's made a deal with God like he's got this special hotline with God that he's going to live 120 years old.
He doesn't know when he's going to live to 120 and by the way I can guarantee you according to the word of God the authority of God's word he will not live to 120.
But he's a blasphemer.
He's a charlatan he's a heretic who would dare believe his word. And by the way there's people influenced by this. I talked to an elderly man he's in the 70's and he's almost crippled now and he still works in the grocery store and he says David I've made a covenant with God that I'm going to live 120.
I said I'm not going to be argumentative with you friend but I'm going to quote to you a scripture that I'm not going to give you my opinion I'm going to give you the word of God. And I said I go to Psalm 90.
And I said let me read you something. He said well I don't really base on he said. After I told him this his response was I don't believe there what it says in Psalm 90. I'm going to believe in Psalm 91.
I said no no. I said listen to what God says in Psalm 90. Listen to very carefully what the Lord says. This is the Lord this is. Thus saith the Lord. Verse 10 Psalm 90. The days of our lives are.
70 years.
This is.
Moses by the spirit of God and by and if by reason of strength they are.
80 years as our sister.
Lillian here praise his name 80 years and still blessed amen.
80 years.
This is the word of God yet their boast is only labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away. And by the way if God gives you a little bit more than 80.
Then you're very very blessed with longevity of life.
But it's God that decides that this 120 years making a covenant with God.
Is ridiculous.
That's a false teacher of course. They got to have something eccentric and ridiculous to talk about. Well let me carry on here.
Before I.
Get sidetracked catch that rabbit and pull it in the spirit of God can.
He is the spirit of truth the spirit of God.
That also.
Baptizes believers into the body of Christ not only is the washing of the word symbolic of the spirit of God that the spirit of God also convicts us of righteousness sin righteousness and judgment but he also it is the body of Christ that we are baptized in and baptized means put within in that sense immersed within the body of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12 13. Paul says this. For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body. What did he say in Ephesians. One Lord one faith one baptism. One not two. Whether Jews or Greeks whether slaves or free.
And notice what he says and have all been made to.
Drink.
Drink into one spirit. It's interesting he said that word. Drink there. What's he talking about. Drink from the fountainhead.
Living.
Water.
We all partake as it says. And Paul says he talked about this as Israel was our example to learn from of the rock that was in the wilderness in Kadesh and they were thirsty. And you remember when Moses smoked the rock and what came out of it.
Water came out of it and Paul says that rock is Christ.
And when Moses.
Struck that rock twice. That's why God disciplined him did not allow him to go into the promised land. God shows no favoritism shows no partiality. Moses disobeyed the Lord because he became angry. He smoked the rock twice.
It's symbolic of Christ. In other words Christ was only stricken smoke once in crucifixion not twice. So he was not given the privilege to go into the promised land. Only he could see it afar off. And that's a prophet of God.
Folks that's one of the meekest men that ever walked the earth at that time period.
God.
Shows no partiality.
It is.
The Holy Spirit that also seals the believers Ephesians 4 30. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. That's so convicting isn't it. Do not grieve how the Spirit of God must be grieved today.
With his church.
By whom you were what sealed for the day of redemption. You are sealed. It's almost like a two edged sword. There is a two edged sword. There's a conviction there do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
Then he says by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. There's an exhortation the day of redemption. The Spirit of God is a person by the way he's not a force he's a person. Therefore he can be grieved.
Never forget that. So in that sense the Spirit of God knows he feels he knows.
He is a.
Person.
What grieves him. What do you think grieves him.
Refusing.
To obey refusing to submit submitting to our sinful ways rather than righteous living. I think that grieves him. The greatest sermon that you and I can preach is not necessarily me standing up before you right now preaching it is your life.
It's the way you.
And I live before this sinful world. It is the way you and I live before our family. It's the way we treat our wives. It's the way we treat our children. It's the way we live and conduct ourselves.
That's.
Important.
We need to hear more of that. I need to preach that more to myself. It's the way I treat my wife because she's my very first ministry in that sense. Because Christ says husbands love your wives even as Christ loves the church I am to treat her as Christ treats.
The church that convicts me folks.
And I want to serve her.
And love her more and more.
And sanctify her as Christ is sanctifying you and me into this body because he loves us with a holy and dying love. May God help us to be submissive to his lordship in this and he seals the believer. In other words what he's saying the holy spirit is our guarantee he's the down payment for our eternal redemption.
How important it is to have the spirit of God. It's also the spirit of God that fills the believer and uses the believers for the glory of God as we sung today for God's glory not for ourselves. The water is for drinking and for others to take a drink.
To give.
Not live for ourselves but live for others and live for Christ and as Paul says for me to live is Christ.
But to die is gain.
Ephesians 5 18 and do not be drunk with wine which is in dispensation.
But be filled.
With the spirit. Listen to that be filled with the spirit now. He's not talking about another baptism in the holy spirit he's talking about being baptized into the body of Christ. But there is.
A daily.
Feeling through studying the richness of his word and being in prayer to be filled with the presence of God that God would overflow in us. And he does it by the word of God to dwell richly in us. But he does it also in prayer speaking to the Lord.
That's Christianity 101. It's not this extraordinary experience speaking in with other.
Tongues.
As people say it's jibber jabber. And by the way what happened there on the day of Pentecost cannot be duplicated. It was a supernatural act that they spoke the word of God in other languages.
I could go.
In more detail about that but the feeling of the spirit here. You know when people are drunk with wine.
They have.
No reason and their reason goes out but they are.
Which is.
Dispensation.
And then he says be filled with the spirit the original actually means be being.
Filled.
Constantly being filled with God through the word it means being controlled by the spirit living holy lives surrendering our will to God's will depending on God through trials and depending on his grace and most of our living in our lives unconsciously in the presence of the Lord being possessed of God.
Let's put it that way being filled with the spirit is the same as walking in the spirit. So all this is through the fountain head the Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way none of this could happen unless he paid that great sin debt for us on the cross.
That's why Paul says I preach Christ Jesus the Lord not ourselves. Jesus Christ and him crucified because everything that we have all the benefits comes.
Through the cross.
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ that is the fountain head.
We're going to sing it.
At the closing there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners can plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. So if you guilty weighed under the the horrors of sin the transgressions of sin can be cleansed.
It's the opening up of water. We see this in John 4 as Jesus spoke to the woman at the well. Here's a woman her life is in a mess. In chapter 4. The Samaritan woman. She meets the Messiah. Verse 6. And by the way verse 4 says.
And he needed to go through Samaria. He knew by the providence of his father he needed to be there. Jacob's well was there. What an illustration Jesus gave to her. Jesus therefore being wearied from his journey sat thus by the well here.
He was tired and weary as a man. And he's sitting on the well. And it was about the sixth hour the heat of the day. The woman of Samaria came to draw water. She was thirsty because it was hot. She come to draw from the well.
And Jesus said to her. Give me a drink. Give me a drink. Listen to what is about to be said. His disciples had gone into the city.
To buy food. And the woman of.
Samaria said to him how is it.
Speaking to.
Jesus how is it that you being a Jew ask a drink from me a Samaritan woman. That's not right. The Samaritan women they were rejected because they were mixed breeds you see this there was prejudice there was hate.
This woman lived with several men. Jesus pointed it out to her he didn't withhold pointing out her sin.
But he lovingly does.
This and then she says Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her if you knew the gift of God who it is that says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
Here she is.
She feels like filth.
She's rejected.
And here he is he comes to offer living water.
To a thirsty woman.
That's seeking.
Satisfaction and she can't find the satisfaction.
In all the things of the world and sex and having one man after another and all the things of the world.
But Jesus says I can give you satisfaction.
Isn't it wonderful.
If you got Jesus.
Folks you got it all we tell people.
If you don't have Jesus.
You got nothing.
Jesus said this the woman said to him sir you have nothing to draw with the well's deep. Where then do you get that living water. See now she's saying I want that living water.
Are you greater than.
Our father Jacob. Oh my yes. Who gave us this. Well.
Jacob's well.
And drank from it himself as well as sons and his livestock. Jesus answered oh Jesus didn't say oh I'm greater. No he didn't. You know what he says to her. He goes to the heart of the matter. He doesn't compete with Jacob he goes.
He's the son of the living God. He's the one that made Jacob. He's the one that wrestled with Jacob before he came into this world. And he said whosoever drinks of this water will thirst again. He's looking at Jacob's well whosoever drinks of this water.
Of the world everything in the world.
Is dry.
It will not satisfy. And Jesus said but whoever drinks of the water.
That I shall give him.
Will never thirst but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water springing up into everlasting.
Life.
Hallelujah.
I could keep on going on that chapter but to move right along you see.
Jesus speaks. Jesus speaks.
Recognizing we must recognize that we have a thirst and that woman recognized it. The Samaritan woman recognized. The second thing is the reward of the fountain of living water the reward.
You see this.
In the next verse in chapter 7. Wonderful text.
Isn't it.
He says this he who believes in me as the scripture has said.
Isn't it amazing.
The living word goes to the written word.
Of his innermost being out of his heart or out of his belly. The old king James says will flow rivers.
Rivers.
Rivers of living water.
Salvation.
Satisfaction strength and service that's all God provides. I hope I can get through these for you. Salvation primarily is the grand benefit to make us whole in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ comes to make us whole that's salvation but also it not only means wholeness it also means deliverance.
That God.
Is a God of deliverance.
He comes to.
Deliver us. Thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins.
Jehovah.
Saves. Joshua saves. Basically. So here the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith is eternally saved by his amazing grace. John 3 verse 36. He who believes or obeys the son has everlasting life that he who does not believe in the son shall not see life.
But the wrath of God abides on him abides on him still abiding on him. I love the Psalms. You see this. All these benefits of salvation through the Psalms. And Psalm 103 is one of my favorites. I don't know about you.
Many of them I love. 119 is the Mount Everest. But Psalm 103 is so powerful. Notice how it starts. I'm not going to read all of it. But he says this. David is blessing the Lord. He said bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me all that is within me.
Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul. And forget not all his benefits. And then he starts naming them.
Who notice the who.
Who forgives all your iniquities. Who heals all your diseases. That doesn't mean all the time physical it could be spiritually speaking too.
Who.
Redeems your life from destruction who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies who satisfies your mouth with good things.
That your youth is renewed like the eagles.
That's just the.
First five verses. Who forgives who heals who redeems who crowns who satisfies only God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. So there's salvation that's a benefit. Satisfaction is another one John 738.
Out of his heart innermost being rivers of living water they come forth from the fountain head. Jesus Christ. I love what that old hymn says. Let the water and let the blood from thy wounded side. Some says ribbon side which flowed be of sin.
The double cure save from wrath. Make me pure the water and the blood. That's what came out of his side. When the soldier drove the spear through his side water and blood came out.
Hallelujah the.
Cleansing fountain. The Lord Jesus Christ. The innermost being is that part of man that is actually never satisfied.
We feed it.
Soon thereafter it cries out for more and more and more in this world dissatisfaction discontentment. It's like we always discontent but Jesus satisfies folks.
That you think.
Of Solomon he said this in Ecclesiastes vanity of vanities all is vanity. This was the richest man that ever lived. He had it all he had wives.
Concubines he had.
All the riches and he said it's all vanity. Again if you don't have God in Christ you have nothing. Only Jesus Christ can satisfy. Jesus said in Matthew 5 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Promise folks Jesus gives that.
Promise. And that means if you thirst for righteousness and hunger for righteousness you will be.
Filled God will fill.
You.
Very opposite of self righteousness isn't it.
Opposite.
Speaks of those who self righteousness speaks of those who seek God's.
Righteousness their own way their own self righteousness see we are not to have a righteousness of our own. Our own righteousness is filthy rags. And by the way Romans 10 3 says we're not to establish a righteousness of our own only Christ righteousness pleases the Father Psalm 34 8.
Oh taste and see.
Taste it. You gotta taste it.
You must appropriate it by faith you must see.
Taste and see.
That the Lord is good.
He's good.
His goodness as brother Keith mentioned about the attributes of God. Meditate on God's goodness. Contemplate on who God is. He's always good. The days are evil as the Puritan Brooks says.
But God is good.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. How about this one. Psalm 107 9 for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness with God's goodness he fills your.
Soul.
Only Jesus can satisfy amen salvation satisfaction what about strength.
How about strength.
The water the living water never abates. God's strength has an unending supply from everlasting to everlasting. He's God that means all that he is in his love his attributes his grace his goodness and all that he is will never run out.
Of supply.
The living water that is so powerful even in our weakness and that's when it's the most powerful. It is in our weakness that God comes and shows himself.
Strong.
The joy of the Lord is our strength beloved gives us hope in a dark dying world. All this through Jesus Christ through Christ in Christ Christ in you the hope of glory the abiding presence of God dwelling within you the spirit of the living God.
Well we have satisfaction. We have salvation satisfaction strength. What about.
Service.
God makes us for service. That's why we here among each other one another to serve one another to honor one another to love one another to pray for one another to encourage one another. It's not about us.
It's about Christ.
And we must.
Look at the judgment because one day.
Our goal is to.
Hear the Lord Jesus Christ say well done good and faithful servant.
To.
Love the brethren as Jesus commanded us to love one another as he has loved us.
So the.
Bible makes it very clear that this water of life is that within our innermost being forms a mighty river of water flows out from us. What the Lord is saying is that there will be sufficient satisfaction in him.
That's what he's saying sufficient satisfaction in him and that he will use us to reach and touch others for his glory because the water isn't just for us. Yes it's for us but it's also for others. Just read Romans chapter 12.
Paul from Romans 1 to Romans 11 there's theology just pouring on and then at the end of chapter 11 he gets caught up in doxology. Sound theology always goes to strong praise and doxology. And then in chapter 12 to the end of the chapter of Romans there's practical.
Christian living.
Then he says therefore I beseech you before the mercies of God. God's mercies present your body as a living sacrifice a living sacrifice before God holy and acceptable unto him. Do not be conformed to this world but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And then he.
Goes on to say not to think of ourselves as we ought to think more highly as we think and basically he says it's by the grace of God you are who you are.
We're nothing.
We're dirt and the breath that we have in us is God's breath and he even loans that to us and we have tongues not to speak against each other and to strike fire and hurt each other. Our tongues is to give praise to God like over a thousand tongues to sing.
To our great.
Redeemer's praise. Well the rock in that day. In Exodus 17 as I've already mentioned that rock was Christ and a type of Christ was opened up and the water flowed from that rock into the desert to refresh.
All those.
Recognizing the fountain the rewards of the fountain and we come to the receiving of the fountain with an application notice in verse 37. Back to John chapter 7 the last well verse 37 again I'm not going to be able to get all this in but he says if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink.
There's the key. There's three key words I'd like to focus on and for all of us to focus on here in our personal application. The key words to summarize Jesus' gospel. Invitation first.
Is thirsty.
You must be thirsty. Thirsty ones are those who recognize their spiritual.
Isaiah 55 1.
Ho everyone who thirsts come to the waters. And you who have no money come buy come buy and eat. Yes come buy wine and milk without money and without price. And why do you spend. Why do you spend money on what is not bread and your wages for what does not.
Satisfy.
Listen carefully the Lord says listen carefully to me.
Eat what is good.
And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Then he says incline your ear and come to me. We must incline our ear and hear what God is saying. Jesus said it he that has an ear let him hear what the spirit says.
To the church.
Incline your ear come to me.
Hear.
And your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. The sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people and a leader and a commander for the people surely you shall call a nation you do not know and nations who do not know shall you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for he has glorified.
You you see.
Then it goes in verse 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. We are not promised. The next day today is the day of salvation.
Seek him.
While he may be found while he call upon him while he is near. Keep this in mind.
Not.
Everyone that comes to Christ as the rich young ruler though very eagerly ran up to him.
Fervently fervently eagerly.
Knelt before Christ and asked him good teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life. He seemed to be impressive. Didn't he Mark 10 17. And in the end he went away grieving verse 22. And with this thirst he still was unquenched.
Having approached Christ he was unwilling to take the critical step the third step. And what was that. The drink.
You see the.
Difference. He had all the right questions. Of course I think he really slipped up when he said good master. Jesus called on to his hypocrisy right away. He said why call me good. There's only one good and that's God.
But he didn't drink from the water. You must appropriate it by faith. Only the thirsty you see you must realize you got a thirst and then you gotta drink that water. You must appropriate it put it to your lips.
Drink it. Only those who do receive the living water in Christ. And all others prove themselves to be false disciples if we're not careful whose repentance is insincere incomplete and unfortunately false.
The Bible says. Even Esau sought repentance with many tears and did not find it. The way is straight folks. According to Acts 11 18 the repentance that leads to life results in forgiveness of sin. It must be godly sorrow not worldly sorrow.
It involves far more than just mere tears and remorse. As I mentioned about Esau Pastor John MacArthur says this. Those quote those who manifest genuine repentance acknowledge the deep thirst of their personal guilt before a holy God realizing that they can do nothing of their own to avert his judgment that they deserve.
Thus they rely on the sacrifice of Jesus as payment for their sins affirming him to be the only Savior John 14 6 Acts 4 12. And the Lord of their lives Romans 10 9 and 10. And this way they drink the living water that he provides which becomes in them a well of water springing up into eternal life.
End quote. Hallelujah.
Let me close with an illustration and a.
Part of a hymn.
By Horatio Barner. Illustration is very simple very very simple but this is profound. We must appropriate it folks we must appropriate it.
By faith.
Beloved I'm if you and I are very thirsty.
Can find satisfaction that in that thirst within a cold cup of water it's not going to happen by me looking at that water like this boy that water.
Looks good.
I must do this put it to my lips and drink it. That's what we must do folks when we come to Jesus. The water only works for my thirst. To quench my thirst only when I put it to my lips and drink it I can fix a good nice cup of water but it's not going to do me any good if I just.
Leave it there.
I mean looking at it yes it's important to look and live in faith but I must take a hold of it fix it to my mouth and drink it to my dry mouth and allow that water to enter into my body that's parched.
That's what we must do appropriating.
Appropriating by faith by faith by faith.
The just shall live by faith as the scripture says come to the waters and drink. Let me close with this Horatious Barner. I heard the voice of Jesus say. I'm not going to quote the whole thing but just the first part of it.
I heard the voice of Jesus say.
Behold.
I freely give the living water thirsty one stoop down and drink and live. I came to Jesus and I drank of that life given stream my thirst was quenched my soul was revived and I live and now I live in him.
Hallelujah Hallelujah. Do you have this living water that comes from the fountain of life the Lord Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Let's pray our Father and our God. How wonderful is your word to a parched thirsty soul.
Thank you Father for your great love that you have given your best your one.
And only son.
Oh God our Heavenly Father like that wonderful songs that originated from South Africa years ago. Let your living waters flow over my soul let your Holy Spirit come and take control all my situations.
All that.
Troubles my mind.
All my.
Cares and burdens onto you. I roll Father. May we all cast our care upon you.
For you care for us.
How willing you are to give.
Such a.
Endless supply of living water all because of Christ dying in our place the Lamb of God. Thank you oh Lamb of God thank you Jesus for that great sacrifice. It will take all eternity all eternity to praise.
And worship you.
For the great cost that humbles us.
Before the cross.
Of the precious blood.
That was shed.
Thank you Father for the fountain that washes our sin whiter than snow. Lord help these children help each and every one of us see this nothing else matters in this life. So all to you Lord.
We give thank you.
Oh Lord.
For all that you have given.
For our sacrifices nothing in comparison.
All we can do.
Is just lay it before your feet.
And worship like Mary did.
And choose the best the best.
Help us Lord we pray.
To do this for your glory.
In Jesus name I pray amen and amen.