Selfish on my part, but I want
to hear Todd's message before I have to leave. So we can reserve
the fellowship for after the service. It is so good to have Edward
Emmerich got married last night. So a lot of these folks, some
of our folks may be wondering, well, all these people, is this
Todd's entourage? No, it's not. They're not here
for Todd. They're not here for Todd. They came for the wedding, but
we're happy that they were able to stay over for the service.
So where is Todd? Gone. All right. Okay. Are you ready? Okay. Let's stand together. The
hymn on the back of your bulletin. From. And see your King who reigns
on high, Behold the Savior on His throne, The Advocate for
all His own. Thee he'd never filled with dark
despair, Come cast on him your every care, And trust his interceding
grace, Whose blood redeemed his chosen race. Sensed by His blood we're justified,
His prayers will never be denied. Tis Christ with sympathizing
love, Who represents us high above. Come then unto the throne
of grace, to Christ who is our hiding place, and rest in him
and be at peace. His love for us will never cease. Please be seated. Before our scripture reading,
turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 31. And I thank you, brother, for that
message. Because it's amazing how the Lord works. I've been
thinking about it for some time now on Ephraim. And Ephraim was the second son
of Joseph. Ephraim's name means fruitful. And Joseph said concerning
his son, for God has caused me to be fruitful in the land of
my affliction. Now that's where we live at.
This is the land of our end. Christ was fruitful in the land
of His affliction, which He has accomplished for this. And so,
we'll begin with verse 18. And here we see doing just what
Brother Greg says we will do. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
or moaning himself. Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised. As a bullock, unaccustomed to
the yoke, turn thou me, and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord
my God. And it says in Hebrews, for whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourges every son whom he
receives. And when he shows us this and
does this for us, it's a great thing. Surely, after that I was
turned, I repented, and after that I
was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed. And we are ashamed of our sin.
It's ever before us. Yea, even confounded, because
I did bear the reproach of my youth. But look at what God has
to say now. Ezekiel, my dear son, Is he a pleasant child? For since
I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still. And we've
got a God that's beyond our description, but he is a merciful God. Therefore,
my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon
him, saith the Lord. And I want his mercy. Set thee
up way marks and make thee high steps, set thine heart toward
the highway, the way which thou winnest. Turn again, O virgin
Israel, turn again to these thy city. How long wilt thou go about,
O thou backsliding daughter? We're just backsliding all the
time. For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman
shall compass a man." And I don't know, but the Lord does speak
of His church as a woman, and He has promised to be in the
midst of them, and He's here. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel, as yet they shall use this speech in the land of
Judah, and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their
captivity. The Lord bless thee, O inhabitants
of justice and mountain of holiness." We're in the mountain of holiness
now. And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the
cities thereof, together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. For I have satiated every weary
soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul." That's
one of the reasons we come here, time after time, is to have our
soul replenished. Upon this I awaked and beheld,
and my sleep was sweet in me." We'll leave off there. Holy and gracious Father, as we have heard, we think about
death often. And especially when we see that
it's in your hands is the only comfort that we have to know
when you said it's finished. You have accomplished everything.
You have defeated death. Father, now again, Lord, we just
lift up our brother as he comes to speak the same thing, which
is not grievous to us. Lord, we desire that you would
be pleased again to continue to bless us and have mercy upon
us, for we are your children. And we just ask this in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's stand together once again.
We're going to sing hymn number 82 in your soft back hymnal,
number 82. And then Bree Wachey and Rebecca
Vincent will come sing a duet before Todd preaches. Let's all
stand together, number 82 in your soft back hymnal. My times are in thy hand. My God, I want them there. Choose, Lord, the path that's
best for me throughout my journey here. My times are in Thy hand,
there is no cause for fear. My Father's providence is good,
I should be free of care. My times are in thy hand, I would
submissive be. Forgive my fears, forgive my
doubts, drive unbelief from me. My times are in thy hand. My God, do what you will. Grant grace to me to honor you,
to trust you, and be still. Please be seated. Bree, Rebecca. Draw me, my Savior, so precious
Thou art. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Shelter me safe in that haven
of rest. Nothing I bring, not as an offering to Jesus my King. Only my sinful, now contrite
heart. Grant me the cleansing thy blood
doth impart. Grant me the cleansing thy blood
doth impart. Nearer, still nearer, Lord, to
be thine. Sin with its follies I gladly
resign All of its pleasures, pomp and its pride Give me but
Jesus, my Lord crucified Give me but Jesus, my Lord crucified. Nearer, still nearer, while life
shall last, Till safe in glory my anchor is cast. Through endless ages ever to
be Nearer, my Savior, still nearer to Thee Nearer, my Savior, still
nearer to Thee Would you turn to Revelation
22? While you're returning there, I was so blessed in hearing that
message. And I told Brother Greg, every
time I hear the scripture where the Lord says, depart from me,
I never knew you, it terrifies me. I think, what if I'm deceived?
And the only thing that gives this sinner assurance at that
time is when I'm enabled to see that everything that God requires
of me, He looks to His Son for. He doesn't look for a thing out
of me. Raise His name. Revelation 22 verse 17. You know, even when I say that,
a little voice says, what if that's not so? We're a mess, aren't we? Verse 17, and the spirit
and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. and let him that is a thirst
come, and whosoever will. Do you know that's the only time
those two words are found together in the Bible, right here. Whosoever
will. Let him take the water of life freely. I have three goals in this message,
and I suppose these three goals are there every time I preach.
I hope they are. I'm sure you feel the same way,
Greg. First, I want the gospel to be preached. The gospel to
be preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. And secondly, if
somebody hadn't come to Christ, I'm praying that the Lord brings
them to Christ. And thirdly, I want every believer to enjoy
the full assurance of faith. Full assurance. Knowing that
you believe the gospel. Wouldn't that be a blessing if
you could walk out of this place this morning knowing that you
really are a believer? I've entitled this message, Whosoever
will. Now let me say at the outset
that this is not a message on free will. There's no such thing.
It actually is absurd. God doesn't even have a free
will. His will is controlled by his nature. He's holy. He cannot sin. He can't freely
sin. He is holy. He's unable to be
anything but holy. Anybody that would think about
this would know there's no such thing as free will. It's a non-entity.
It's an absurdity. Your will is controlled by your
nature. Now, a tiger, I suppose, if he wanted to, could eat grass,
couldn't he? It's against the nature, isn't
it? He eats meat. Your nature controls your will.
So this is not a message about free will. Somebody that preaches
free will does not understand the gospel at all. They've never
been taught of God, because if you've been taught of God, you
know that your will is your biggest problem. Now, as I said previously, whosoever
will, this is the only time these two words stand together like
this in the Bible. Now, I've heard people respond
to the gospel after hearing, for instance, of election or
Christ's redemption, successful redemption for the elect. And
they said, well, I believe in free will. Or no, I believe whosoever
will. As if that negates everything
else. Well, I believe in whosoever will too. I believe in whosoever
will with all my heart. And I love whosoever will. That
doesn't negate God electing a fixed number of people to be saved
in Christ. dying for them and accomplishing their salvation,
and they're the only ones that are going to be in glory. That's
true. But this is also true. Whosoever will. Some have implied that this is
the Spirit, the Bride, and the individual hearers' response
to verse 12. The Lord says, And behold, I
cut Excuse me. And behold, I come quickly. And the spirit says, come. And the bride says, come. And the individual believer,
I love this description of the individual believer, he that
heareth. That's what a believer is, isn't it? He that is of God,
heareth God's words. Him that hears, He says, come,
even so, come, Lord Jesus. This is the very desire of our
heart. And I want Him to come to me.
I want Him to come. I want Him to come to me because
I know if He comes to me, I'll come to Him. I greatly desire
this. But this is also the message
of the Spirit and the Bride and the individual believer to those
they preach to. And the message is, come. The law says go and do. Make yourself better. Get your
life straightened out. And stop committing those sins
that you continually commit. You haven't really repented of
those sins if you continue to commit them. You need to get
your life straightened out. You need to make things right.
and then you'll be paid. Forgiveness is at the end. It's a process you've got to
go through. If you do this, this, this, and this, you'll have the
forgiveness of sins. The law says go and do. Make yourself better. Is that the message of the Spirit
and Bride? No. The spirit and the bride
say, come. Come, for all things are now
ready. You don't have to bring anything.
Let not conscience make you linger, nor a fitness fondly dream. The
only fitness he requireth is to have a need of him. I changed the word there. It
says to feel a need. Sometimes I don't feel a need,
but I always have a need. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, laboring under a sense and burden of sin. He says, come unto me and I will
give you rest. He's got the power to do it and
he's got the willingness to do it. And he says, come to me and
I will give you rest. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. He told his servants, go out
and compel them to come in, compel them, urge them, force them,
do whatever it takes. But my house may be full. Our
Lord said, all that the father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. If you come to him, he won't
turn your way. And I'm saying that to everybody. Well, what's it mean to come
to him? That's a good question. What does it mean to come to
him? Turn to John chapter six. Verse 35, And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and
he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Now listen real
carefully. coming to Christ and believing
on Christ are the exact same thing. If you believe on Christ,
you've come to Christ. If you've come to Christ, that
means you're believing on Christ. Now, what's it mean to believe? I used to ask myself that question
all the time. What's it mean to believe? I
would if I knew what it meant. What does it mean to believe
on Christ? Well, the Ethiopian eunuch heard
the gospel from Philip. Oh, he heard Isaiah 53. And during the course of this
message, he sees water. And he says, here's water. What
hinders me from being baptized? Give me a reason why I shouldn't
be baptized. I want to know. And Philip said,
if you believe with all your heart, You may. Now, notice Phillips, I mean
the Ethiopian Union's reply. He didn't say, I believe I'm
a Christian. He didn't say, I believe that
Jesus Christ died for me. He didn't say, I believe I'm
one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe I've
been born again. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. Do you believe that? I'm not asking
you anything else. Do you believe that? Beloved,
that's faith. Don't overcomplicate it. That's
faith. It's believing Him. That's too
simple. Do it then. Do it. Who so believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Do you believe he's the Christ?
Do you believe he's God's Christ? Do you believe he's God's word,
the very word of God, God's prophet? Do you believe he's God's priest,
that one who, if he brings you into God's presence, you must
be accepted because of who he is? Do you believe he's God's
king, that he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords and the
sovereign of the universe? Do you believe that? You're born
of God then. Go back to our text for a moment,
Revelation 22. Verse 1, and he showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as a crystal. There is something called the
water of life, that if you drink of this water, you have life. Just drink. Where's the source of this river? Every river has a source. Well,
it proceeds out of the throne of God, the absolute sovereign
decree of God and of the Lamb. It comes from His precious blood,
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. There's a river flowing from
the decree of God, from the person and work of Christ, and there's
life, life in this river. Verse two, in the midst of the
street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree
of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit
every month, and the leaves of the trees were for the healing
of the nations. You see, sin is a disease to
a believer. It's a horrible disease, but
thank God he healed them that had need of healing. He always
does. Verse three, and there should
be no more curse. Why? Justification has been accomplished. You see, He was delivered for
our offenses, and He was raised again for our justification.
And if I'm justified, that means I never did anything wrong. And
I've always done that which is right. There's no place for a
curse. That's what comes from this. This is life before God.
Life before His law. 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, and they shall see his face."
Isn't that what salvation is? As for me, David said, I will
behold thy face in righteousness. If he came in now, I know what
I'd do. I'd look down. I'd look at him, but I'd look
down. I'd be embarrassed. One of these days, I'm going
to behold His face in absolute righteousness, without even the
presence of sin. I'll be satisfied when I awake
in Thy likeness. And His name shall be in their
foreheads. You know what that name is? Jehovah
Tzidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. That's my name. Same name as
the Lord, the Lord our righteousness. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter four. We're going to read about this
river of life, this water of life that proceeds from the throne
and the lamb. Verse three, he left Judea and departed again
into Galilee And he must needs go through Samaria. He must needs
go through Apopka. He's always got his elect that
he's after. Everywhere he goes. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria
which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus
therefore being wearied with his journey. The humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Sat thus on the well, and it
was about the six hour, it was noon, it was hot, and there cometh
a woman of Samaria to draw water. Some have speculated that this
woman was ashamed to come early in the morning when everybody
else was there, because they'd say, there she is, and say whatever
they'd say about her, because she was a mess. She was a mess. She'd been married five times.
The Lord lets us know that she was a mess. But she comes at
noon. Jesus saith unto her, give me
to drink. Now she was shocked by that.
She'd been around Jews before and she felt under their microscope
and how judged she felt by him. But somehow this man said, give
me to drink. And she wasn't threatened. She
wasn't judged. She was surprised. She couldn't
understand why he would be doing this. For the disciples were
gone away into 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 you knew the gift And that gift is the gracious gift. The free gift. The gift that
doesn't cost you anything. The gift with absolutely no strings
attached. I'm it. The Lord says I'm it. If you knew the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink. If you knew,
and if you knew who I was, here's what you'd do. You would have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living water, the
water we just read about in Revelation 22. If you knew, you'd ask, and
he'd give. Now, she didn't have any idea
what he was talking about. Verse 11, the woman said unto him,
Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From
whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than
our father Jacob? Well, she didn't have any idea
who she was talking to, did she? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob? Yes, infinitely so. Which gave us the well, and drank
thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered
and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst
again. You can have your thirst quenched
temporarily in so many ways, but you're always gonna thirst
again. You can accomplish what you want, but you're gonna thirst
again. You will. But, verse 14, whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst again. Always be satisfied the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into Everlasting life now. Let me give you something that
this woman found out about this water look in verses 1 28 and
29 the woman then after the Lord had made himself known to her
She left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith
to the men come see a man Which told me all things that ever
I did is not this the Christ now many people when they read
that they think well He's talking about he said you've been married five
times and the woman you're or the man you're with you're living
with him in a sinful relationship Right now that's what's going
on and he had he know all that but that's not really what he
says is it? And this is the only thing that gives me any satisfaction. Come see a man that told me everything
I ever did. Everything I ever did is sin. And that's really the only thing
that satisfies my conscience. If you tell me anything else,
I'm scared. You know what else he told me?
Everything I ever did was absolute perfect righteousness. Now that's
the gospel, isn't it? You hear that you're nothing
but sin, but having his righteousness, you're nothing but righteousness. Everything I ever did was perfect. And that's the only thing really
that, I find satisfaction there. I find satisfaction because it's
so, when I hear everything you've ever done, everything you ever
thought, you haven't kept one commandment one time, you sin,
you sit, yeah, yeah, I'm satisfied with that. I know it's so. I
believe it's so. And I'm satisfied with all I
ever did was perfect. Because when Christ did it, I
did it, it's mine. And I'm satisfied with that.
That's the satisfaction of this water of life. It truly quenches
the thirst. Nothing else quenches my thirst.
Give me something to do, I'm thirsty. Tell me some lie about
myself, I'm thirsty. But I am plumb satisfied with
this. I'm not looking for anything
else. I am satisfied. You're looking
at one happy camper with that. Turn back to our text in Revelation
22, verse 17. And the spirit and the bride
say, come. That's the message of God, the
Holy Spirit. That's the message of the church. And let him that
heareth, that's the individual believer. He's got the same message.
Say, come and let him that is a thirst
come. Now what is thirstiness? Well,
when you're thirsty, that means there's something that you don't
have that you need. It's really that simple. If I'm
thirsting for water, it's because I got a lack thereof and I need
it to come into me. That's what it is to thirst.
Thirst after righteousness is a conscious understanding that
you don't have any. And it has to be brought to you
and poured in you or you won't have it. Now that's what it is
to hunger and thirst for righteousness. When you're hungry, it's because
your stomach is empty. You have to have something outside
of you brought in, don't you? Now, let him that is a thirst
come. Well, how thirsty do you need
to be? I knew you'd ask that. So let's make it easier. Whosoever
will. Whosoever will. Whosoever, what a wonderful word. That's better than if it said
Todd Norbert. There's other Todd Norberts. I've looked it up on
the Google. Other guys got my name. Are you that vain? Yeah,
I am. I haven't done it very many times, but I've done it
a few times. There's other Todd Norberts. If it said Todd Norbert, it might
not mean this one. But whosoever, I'm one of them. This is for me. This is for you. Whosoever will. You know, the Lord said to that
man, impotent man in John chapter five, laying at the pool of Siloam,
waiting for the waters to be moved. He said, wilt thou be
made whole? Now, the guy didn't understand
the question because he said, I don't have anybody to get me
to the water. That's not what the Lord asked him. Wilt thou,
are you willing to be made whole? Are you willing? Paul said, to
will is present with me. Now how to perform that which
is good I find not, but to will is present. I have no doubt that if you're
willing, you know that he made you willing. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. It's God that worketh
in you both the will and to do his good pleasure. But are you
willing? Now, someone says, well, I'm afraid I don't understand
enough. It doesn't say whosoever understands enough, let him come.
It says, whosoever will, let him take the water of life. freely. But I'm not real sure about my
experience. It doesn't say whosoever is sure about his experience,
let him come. But whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. But I don't feel anything. It
doesn't say whosoever feels something, let him take the water of life
freely. It says whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely. But I haven't stopped committing
these same sins that I do over and over again. It doesn't say,
whoever stopped doing the sins they commit over and over again,
let them come. It says, whosoever will. Whosoever will. But I can't come. It doesn't
say, whosoever is able to come. It says, whosoever will. Whosoever will. But I'm not worthy. Doesn't say whosoever is worthy. It says whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. Are you willing to be saved by
Christ? Are you willing to be saved on
his terms, all of grace? Are you willing to be saved in
a way that gives him all the glory and none to you? Are you
willing? You see, if you save your life,
you lose it. But if you lose your life, saved
by his grace, you'll find it. Now notice the language, whosoever
will let him take. This answers every objection
to him taking this. Whosoever will let him take. Now I'm going to repeat your
pastor from what he said in the previous hour. Satan, the accuser of the brethren,
brings every accusation imaginable. He did this, and he didn't do
that, and he did it all with his eyes wide open. He committed sins that are horrible. He committed sins, the same sins. He committed sins that even when
he was confessing them and praying about them, he knew he'd commit
them the next day. He was committing sins. He was wicked. He was a
hypocrite. No way he has any right to come
here. and you put your head down and say everything he said is
true. But the accuser of the brethren,
that's Satan's name, the accuser of the brethren, he's answered. They overcame him by the blood
of the Lamb. You see, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
us from, what's the next word? All, A-double-L, all. We don't sing, Jesus paid a half
the other half I owe, do we? Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow. But then the law of God says,
wait a minute, wait a minute. He's broken every command So
much so that He hasn't kept one commandment one time. And I put down my head because
I know it's so. And then we hear from the throne
of God, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth. Who is He that can condemn? It's
Christ that died. yea rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God. And the law says, nothing
to say. I'm answered. But then I have something else
I deal with. It's called my conscience. My conscience whispers, you can't
come. You can't take the water of life freely. You're nothing
but a hypocrite. You're insincere. You're selfish. You're self-centered. You commit
the sins continually. You can't come. Christ says, let him come. Because
if we believe not, He abideth faithful. He cannot deny Himself. If I'm united to Him, as you
were saying, I'm Himself. And He cannot deny Himself. If our hearts condemn us, God
is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Let Him come. That's Christ saying that. Let
Him come. Let Him take all objections. have been answered. But don't
miss this. There is one condition. And this is the condition that
ends all conditions. Look with me. Let him take the
water of life. What's it say? Freely. You know what that means? That
means without a cause. Without a cause. And this is
why this water of life is something me and you can take. Because
we don't have to bring anything with us. We're to take this water
of life freely. Now, if you have a cause or a
reason why you should take the water of life, I should have
this water of life because I did this and I stopped doing that
and I believe this and I quit doing that. You're cutting your
own throat. You really are. There's no hope
for you if you come like that. I did this. No, the only one
who can take the water of life is the one who takes the water
of life freely without a Cause let not conscience make you linger. I'll repeat that nor a fitness
fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. I got that. I got that. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. I think it's interesting. If
I said for $10, you could be saved. You reckon everybody in
this room would be saved? If you didn't have $10, somebody'd
give it to you. But when we say salvation is
free, oh, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that
hath no money, no money, come, buy, eat, yea, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. That's the charge of the gospel.
It's free. Well, I don't want a 10. I do.
I do. This is a gospel suitable for
someone that doesn't have anything to bring. Rock of ages, cleft
from me, let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood
from thy riven side which flowed be of sin the double cure. Save
from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal no respite know? These for sin could not atone.
Thou must save and thou alone. In my hands no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Now I want to close by looking
at a passage in John chapter 9. I think this will illustrate what
it is to take the water of life freely. Verse 39, this is after the Lord
had given sight to that blind man. And Jesus said, for judgment,
I am coming to this world, and here is the twofold judgment,
that they would see not might see, and that they would see
might be made blind. That's why the Lord came. He
came for judgment. To make it to where those who
can't see are given sight, and those who can see are blinded. Can you see why God would save
you? After all, you fill in the blank. You're blinded. You're under
the judgment of God. Can you not see why God would
ever look your way? You can't find one reason as
to why He would. You're given sight. He does it
for Christ's sake. Verse 40, and some of the Pharisees
which were with him heard these words and said unto him, are
we blind also? Jesus said unto them, listen
to this, if you were blind, what do you say next? You should
have no sin. If you were blind, you'd have
no sin. But now you say, we see. Therefore,
your sin remaineth. Come. That's the message. Let's sing Rock of Ages. Number 126 in the hardback teminal,
126. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in Thee.