May I please almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn together to the gospel of John chapter seven and we'll
read verse 37. The gospel according to John
chapter seven and reading verse 37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. Well what a wonderful thing it
is that the Lord Jesus gives such a wonderful and glorious
invitation. This was on the last day of the
feast. It was the Feast of Tabernacles,
as we read in this seventh chapter. And the last day, in actual fact,
was the eighth day. They kept the Feast of Tabernacles
for seven days. And then the last day, the eighth
day, there was a pouring out of water. And it was quite a
complex ceremony, which was carried out, but it was important to
them. And at that time, We can read
about it, not in the Word of God, but in history, that it
said that at that time those that had never seen the rejoicing
in the place of drawing of water never saw the rejoicing in their
life. What a wonderful thing it is
for us then today to have this great and glorious truth set
before us. And I'm sure the Word of God
is the best explainer of the Word of God. And we have this
statement here, the Lord said, if any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. Well, we can understand that,
I'm sure, in a natural way. And I'm sure all of us know in
our lives times when we've been thirsty and we've needed a drink. But in the Psalms, we really
have explanation of this, and in the 42nd Psalm, which is a
familiar Psalm I trust to most of us, and this is what the first
two verses say. It says, as the heart, we know
what a heart is, it's a deer, panteth after the water brooks,
that means after they've been for a long run and they desperately
need some water and they pant after it, That's the illustration. So panteth my soul after thee,
O God. And therefore, the psalmist directs
us directly to the soul rather than our natural life. We know
what it is to thirst naturally. It's a great blessing if we know
what it is to thirst spiritually. And so the psalmist goes on to
tell us, my soul, thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? Well, it'll be a wonderful blessing
for us and it's a wonderfully good sign if the Lord has given
us a spiritual thirst after spiritual things. And if that is so, then
really we will be directed to desire that we may have in our
souls, in our hearts, the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. The blessed work of the Holy
Spirit. Because that really is the fulfillment
of such a word and our spiritual thirst is then satisfied, is
then assuaged, when the Lord graciously comes and touches
our heart and turns us towards himself to seek earnestly after
spiritual blessings. To have had then that spiritual
thirst, and that spiritual thirst doesn't always belong to what
we might think young Christians or people in the way, it may
indeed be sometimes for those who are very much older. And
in the book of Job, we have a very interesting statement really.
And in the 14th chapter and in the 8th verse, from the 8th verse,
we might read, or perhaps the 7th verse. The 7th verse reads,
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will
sprout again, and that a tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old
in the earth, and the stalk thereof die in the ground, yet through
the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a
plant. It's a time of revival, time
of natural revival, and how true it is, a time of spiritual revival. And it speaks in these very interesting
terms when it says through the scent of water. That means there
wasn't really any particular evidence of seeing the water,
perhaps sometimes we might understand a little of this when the ground
has been very dry and we have some rain and there's a very
pleasant smell of rain when it falls upon the grass and so there
is this picture then before us here that although the root thereof
wax old in the earth and the stock thereof die in the ground
and perhaps we may feel like that we may feel as though we're
almost dead our spiritual life has almost evaporated and there
seems to be no life and yet here is the encouragement the encouraging
word that the Lord tells us yet yet, through the scent of water,
just the mere smell of it as it were. There's a revival, believing
perhaps almost like in Elijah's day, when there was that very
small crown, cloud in the distance, no bigger than a man's hand,
but it was a sign of an abundance of rain. And a sign, a wonderful
sign, of the fulfillment of this word, really. When Jesus stood
and cried saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me. There was hope in Elijah's day. There was hope in Job's day. And there is hope in our day. So we have this encouraging word,
really, Yet through the scent of water it will bud and bring
forth boughs like a plant. So tonight perhaps we may feel
thirsty, we may feel dry, we may feel dried up, and yet it
is just a mere scent of water to revive our flagging spirits
What an encouragement and what a blessing it is to believe then
that the Lord God Almighty will indeed look upon us and will
indeed come and bless us. We have in an earlier chapter,
of course, in the Gospel of John, in the fourth chapter, the wonderful
account of that woman of Samaria. I trust it's not unfamiliar to
you. Because we're told, and Jesus
must, needs go through Samaria. Why? To meet with that woman. And then of course, then those
of her family as well. It had a big knock on effect.
But he must, needs go through Samaria. And he came and he sat
by the well. And this woman came, the woman
of Samaria, and Jesus spoke to her. And she was surprised that
Jesus should speak to her because she was a Samaritan. And perhaps sometimes we may
be surprised that the Lord graciously condescends to speak to us. She wouldn't have expected to
have seen anybody. She was going to the well to
draw water, and she least expected a stranger to speak to her, and
more so least expected a Jew to speak to her. But we see in
God's wonderful mercy and God's wonderful providence, it was
the time, the set time, for the Holy Spirit to meet with her
through the blessed work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the
Lord Jesus told her about this living water, where it was living
water. And she then wanted it. She wanted to drink of this living
water and not have to drink again. And of course, she was just thinking
of a natural water to start with. And then the Lord graciously
opened their eyes spiritually, explained who she was, explained
her condition. And because of that, she realized
here was someone amazing. And the Lord then told her who
he was. And more than that, this is what
he said to her. John 4 verse 14. But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. Never thirst, because once a
child of God has tasted of that spiritual water, the water of
life, which is the work of the Spirit in their souls. It is
something which will never be removed. It is there. The water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing
up into everlasting life. Once the work of grace is commenced,
in our lives, it will never be extinguished. That's wonderful,
isn't it? It doesn't matter, sometimes
we may feel lean, we may feel far off, and yet you see that
water will spring up. It may be virtually disappeared
and we may have to come to that place where there's just that
scent of water, but nonetheless it is a wonderful Blessed work
of God. And so here we have this word
before us this evening. In the last day, the last day
of the Feast, that great day of the Feast, Jesus stood. Now usually the Lord Jesus sat,
but here he was standing. Yes, and he hadn't been at the
Feast all the time as we read, but he had come to it and people
hadn't realized who it was. who was speaking, and yet he
did speak. And now you see he comes. And
it's important to realize in the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried. He didn't whisper. He
cried out. It was good news. Good news for the people to hear.
And it's good news today for unworthy sinners to hear. May
we hear it. saying, if any man thirsts, if
any man thirsts, well that's wonderfully comprehensive isn't
it? And it's wonderful if that includes you and me. If we have
thirsted after spiritual blessings, if we've longed for the Lord
to speak to our souls, if we've longed for Jesus to be revealed
to us, as our glorious Saviour. Then you see, this word has a
gracious, blessed, glorious application to us. If any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. That's the word, isn't it? If
we come to the Saviour, and as I sometimes say, as I'm sure
you're familiar, I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and
sad. Well, if that's how we've come
tonight, we can believe then that we are thirsting. And the
encouragement is, let him come unto me and drink. You see there's
a wonderful sufficiency, is there not, in the Saviour. A glorious
sufficiency. That's why we have such a word
in the prophecy of Isaiah, which is again gloriously encouraging. In the first verse we read, Ho!
Everyone look thirsty. Everyone! Does that include you? Does that include me? Ho, everyone that thirsts this,
what are we to do? Come ye to the waters, come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he that hath no money, come
ye by me, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Well, the great truth is the
gospel, the glorious gospel is without money and without price. We come as we are, empty. The Lord graciously comes as
he did that woman in the well and gave her that water of life. Well, the apostle goes on in this chapter
And the 38th verse is encouraging to us. It's really the result,
the outcome of those who are given that faith, who are given
that grace, who thirst after righteousness, who thirst after
the Saviour to come to Him. And then we're told, he that
believeth on me, he that believeth on me, The scripture has said,
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he
of the Spirit. You see, the glory of the Gospel
is the Lord sends his Spirit into our hearts, into our souls,
and produces there that spiritual life which cannot be denied. The devil will pretend sometimes
that we don't possess life. Well, tell him to trace out the
word of God like we have here this evening. Yes, the gracious
encouragements. It doesn't rely upon our goodness.
It doesn't rely on our good works. It relies on the sovereign grace
and mercy of God. And that's what we rely upon.
And that's what we must rely upon. Maybe therefore thank God
for it and praise God for it and bless God for it. Well may
you and I then tonight be thirsting after this water. Remember what
the Lord Jesus said, if any man thirsts, if we have perhaps an emptiness
within us, perhaps an aching void, which the world can never
fill. What a blessing it is to be found
looking unto Jesus and to realise the fullness resides in Jesus
our Head, which ever abides to answer our need. There is no
lack in the grace of the Saviour. There's no lack in the blessed
work of God. There's no lack in the power
of God. There's no lack in the ability of God to save us. As we read in the Hebrews, save
to the uttermost. There's nobody, no sinner beyond
the reach of almighty God. That's why the word of God gives
us those glorious examples of Magdalene and Manasseh. Two examples
of people we would think naturally no hope for, but God had mercy. God gave them to drink of the
water of life. My friends, what a blessing it
is for us tonight, if God has given to us the water of life
to drink. Yes, and to have our thirst therefore
quench. It is the work of God. It's not
the work of man. The work of man, mere words. The work of God brings with it
application. It brings with it power. Do you
know what it does? It's water of life, directs us
to the life, the giver of life. The Lord Jesus Christ directs
us in all our need to Calvary, directs us to the
suffering Saviour, directs us to see that he had to shed his
blood, he had to die in our place so that we might be saved. so
that we might be redeemed, to be able to say to God's praise
and glory, redeemed with the precious blood
of Christ. If any man thirsts, let him come
unto me and drink. You see again, let us just reiterate
We can come as we are, just as you are. Yes, with all your nakedness,
you can come to the Lord just as you are. Yes, don't have to
bring any money, just as you are, bankrupt. The Lord comes
and meets our case. He knows our every need. What
a mercy that is. What a saviour you have. He knows
exactly where we are. We sung, didn't we, that wonderful
hymn just now. Ho, poor distress, thirsty soul. The fountain is just by. Of course,
it's a fountain. From God, it's a fountain of
his most precious blood, whose waters run both full and free. Come, drink, and never die. That's the art, that's the truth,
isn't it? If we drink of this water and life, we shall never
die, because our souls are eternally alive, our souls are eternally
blessed, and it is therefore well with our soul. Well may we all understand what
the Saviour said on this occasion, on that last great day of the
Feast, when he said, if any man thirst, let him come unto me
and drink. He said, if you and I come in
faith, believing the Lord will give us that grace to believe,
then we shall drink. Come, drink, oh beloved. What a wonderful invitation.
What a wonderful truth. May we know something of it and
be able to truly go our way rejoicing, praising God for the good news
of the gospel which reaches right down to where we are. No one
is too low to meet this need. The Lord meets that need of each
true believer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Amen.