I please the Lord to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the Gospel
of John chapter 7 and we'll read verses 37 and 38. The Gospel
of John chapter 7 and reading verses 37 and 38. 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. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. This truly must have been a most
wonderful and an amazing occasion. This was the last day of the
Feast of Tabernacles. It was the 8th day which was
considered to be the last day. And it was the last day when
the great congregation was found together. before they dispersed
and went back to their homes. Jesus had not been there for
the whole of this feast. He came, as we read, about halfway
through, and he'd spoken in the temple, and the people marveled
at what he'd spoken to them about. And now here we have this occasion
in the last day and it's specified as that great day of the feast. As we think of it, we can try
and imagine the scene set before us, a considerable multitude
all gathered together and then the Lord himself standing up
and crying And that means, with a loud voice, he cried out to
them. We might think, might we not,
coming to the end of it, it might be a conference, and it may have
been a good time, and we didn't want the people to disperse without
hearing the great and important news and the truth of the Gospel,
how relevant it would be today, and indeed how important it was
on this occasion. So we have here the picture of
the Lord Himself standing up and crying out and saying, if
any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Well, looking at it from a natural
perspective, I'm sure we would think, well, if the Lord himself
was to declare such tremendous truths, surely it would have
an amazing effect upon that congregation. But if you read on, we recognise
that it just received a mixed reception. And so really it is the day.
The preaching of the Gospel, as it is declared, receives a
mixed reception. There are those who hear it and
rejoice in it. There are those who hear it and
want nothing to do with it. There are others that hear it
and sit on the fence wondering which way to jump. Well, here we have this great
statement that the Lord makes to these people, if any man thirsts. If any man thirsts. Here we have their qualification. Here we have the statement the
Lord makes, if, and it is of course a tremendous if, is it
not? How many do thirst? How many do not thirst? And it's only if there is that
thirst that there will be that need. If there only is that thirst,
there will be that need and desire to come unto the Lord, unto the
Saviour. So we have A very clear statement
here. If any man thirsts. Think back perhaps into the word
of God and we think of that occasion. On that day of Pentecost, when
there was a wonderful conversion. Many, many people on that occasion. What were they doing? They were
thirsting. They were thirsting after Christ. Then perhaps we can think of
another occasion. We can think of that eunuch and we can think of his situation. What was his need? He desired to follow the Lord
and to be baptised. And he'd been asked if he believed
the things that were spoken. And the things that were spoken
were directed to, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his
sufferings. If thou believest with all thine
heart, thou mayest." The Philippian jailer. Yes, a
man who was clearly unconcerned about his spiritual state until
that night. What an amazing night it was.
A night when Paul and Silas sang praises to the Lord at midnight,
the prisoners heard them. And then there was that earthquake, and the Philippian jailer was
preparing to kill himself, fearing that the prisoners had escaped. Paul told him they were all here
still. And then he cried and asked,
what must I do to be saved? He realised he had a need. The Apostle had preached the
Gospel to him. He had a need. And oh what a
blessing it is therefore if each one of us here tonight have come
to that position in our spiritual life where we thirst. And this, of course, is not a
natural thirst. This is a spiritual thirst. If any man thirsts, well, where
do we stand tonight? Are we thirsting tonight for
God? For the living God? Are we thirsting for God tonight? You know, you think of that occasion
which we read of in the Psalms, don't we? Where David speaks
about his experience. And he tells us, as the heart
panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after the
O good God." It's a very good illustration, isn't it? Our heart,
of course, is a deer, and we can imagine it's been running
for a long time, in no doubt a dusty environment, and it needs
water, it's panting for water. So the psalmist says, as the
heart pants after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee,
O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God." Well, this is wonderful. This is spiritual
thirst. And what a blessing if you and
I know what it is to thirst after God. Not just to thirst after
the poor passing things of this life. But here we have this statement. Yes, the psalmist tells us he
was panting after God. His soul was, just like our heart,
panting after the water brooks. What a testimony to be able to
give. I wonder if we can give such a
testimony as that in our spiritual life. Our spiritual life is such
that we are in a state, we are thirsty for God. Oh, my soul, thirsty for God,
for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat, day and night, while
they continue under me. Where is thy God? I wonder if
we have cried because we haven't or are not enjoying the presence
of the Lord, whether it means anything to us or whether we
are content with barrenness in the soul. The psalm is quite clearly here.
Desire the blessing of the Lord. Yes, he was panting after God.
what a blessing it will be if all of us here are panting after
God, because we're thirsting for God, the living God. It's not a dead God, it's a living
God. And surely this means that we're
thirsting after God, we want to know that we are living, that
our souls are alive, and that that thirst will be quenched,
because we will be blessed to drink of nothing less than the
Water of life. If any man thirsts. Oh, if any man thirsts. Well, I wonder tonight, are we
amongst those who are thirsting? You see, it's a very wonderful
expression, isn't it? If any man, whoever they are,
rich or poor, It doesn't matter what colour they are, what nationality
they are. All those things are irrelevant.
The great important question is if we are thirsting. So here was the Lord Jesus Christ
crying out to the multitude with these words. He was speaking
then as we speak today. to never-dying souls. It was
that multitude that all needed salvation. So he cries out, if
any man thirsts, if any man thirsts. I wonder if we're thirsting.
You know the earlier chapter in this Gospel, we remember perhaps
that account of the woman of Samaria. singular account and
it deals with a very singular person, an unnamed woman of Samaria. The wonderful blessing is, as
we read the Law of Jesus, that he needs go through Samaria. He must, needs go through Samaria. Why? to meet with this woman,
to meet with this woman. It would be a wonderful blessing
if God goes to a place where we are and meets with us. The Lord knew what he would do.
My friends, the Lord knows what he would do today in our lives. And so the Lord came and he sat
on the well. And there came this woman of
Samaria to draw water. And Jesus spoke to this woman
of Samaria. The disciples, when they came,
were surprised to find Jesus speaking to a woman of Samaria,
something which just wasn't done. Nevertheless, here it was, the
Lord came and spoke to this woman. And he came and he said, I asked
her, give me to drink. The woman said, how is it that
thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? The Jews have no deeds with the
Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest
the gift of God. What truth there is here, if,
again the question, if, and how important it is for us, if we
know, again, the gift of God, the gift of God, something which
you and I work for, the gift of God. If thou knewest the gift
of God and who it is, that saith to thee, Give me to drink. Thou
wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw
with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou this
living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, his cattle? Jesus answered, saying unto her,
Whosoever, she said a gracious word again, Whosoever, like this
word we have here, Jesus cried, if any man, whosoever. He came and said, the word says
that it is so, there is nothing to draw with. And the word is
deep, and whence then hast thou this water? Are thou greater
than our father Jacob? Jesus said, whosoever drinketh
of this water, shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh 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." The woman said, Sir, give me this water,
but I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Now she didn't
at that time know really what the Lord was speaking to her.
But she did. The Lord then spoke to her about
herself. He told her about herself. And she realised that this then
was indeed the Messiah. The hour cometh and now is when
the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Bless God if you and I are a
true worshipper, who worship in spirit and in truth. For the
Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they
that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There's nothing else, my friends.
True religion is reality. It's not something just fanciful,
it's something airy-fairy, it's something substantial, and it's
something solid. And those that worship the God
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know
that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When He has come,
He will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak
unto thee am He. What a statement. What an effect
it had upon this woman. She left her water pots, didn't
she? She went back into the city. What did she say? Come see a
man who told me all things that ever I did is not this, the Christ. We see the blessed effect, do
we not, of the Spirit's work in the life of that woman. Jesus
stood and cried saying, If any man thirsts. Well, what a question. Are we thirsting tonight? Are
we needy tonight? Do we need someone? Do we need
a saviour? Are we thirsting because of our
sins? Yes, are we under that conviction
of sin and we are brought down by it? We're burdened by it. We cannot free ourselves from
this burden. And it's as though we're so thirsty
in a natural way. But blessed be God if we're so
thirsty in a spiritual way. We're in this situation. Yes,
we need to be delivered. We need to be freed. All we can
see is condemnation because we have offended the
Lord God. The Spirit of God has entered
into our hearts and convinced us of our sin. It is a blessed thing to be a
convinced sinner and to know then that we are those who thirst because of the work of the Spirit
in our hearts. We may not realise it is the
work of the Spirit. We may feel to be destitute. We may feel to be undone. We
may feel to be lost and ruined. We may feel there is no hope
for us. We may feel we send against light
of knowledge. We disobey the word of God. We wander from the Lord. We've
gone far off. Is there any hope? Is there any
water of life? I'm thirsty. Oh, I'm thirsty. If any man thirsts. Well, bless God tonight, we understand
what a spiritual thirst is. Because if we have a spiritual
thirst, There's only one way of blessing. There's only one
way of deliverance from that thirst. There's only one way
of taking away that thirst, quenching that thirst. The Lord Jesus tells us what
it is. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. Let us remember the Blessed Saviour
is crying these words, He's speaking these words loudly so that people
can hear them. They weren't whispered in a corner,
they were spoken loudly so they might penetrate into the hearts
of many that were in that congregation on this last great day of the
Feast. Let him come unto me and drink."
Well, you know, we read in those words in Matthew, come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, you shall find rest
unto your souls. The blessing is, in that situation,
you see if we're thirsty, if we're heavy laden, is to come
to the Lord and to be joined with the Saviour, yoked together If any man thirsteth, come unto
me, and drink." And the Gospel invitations are very beautiful
and very great, aren't they? Remember the one in Isaiah 55,
where the prophet says, Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Again, it's a
cry, isn't it? It's not just a little whisper,
it's something that people might hear. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. Again, that's who the call is
to. Those who are thirsty. Those who are needy. Everyone. Everyone is welcome who is thirsty. Come ye to the waters. And he
that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and
milk without money and without price. It is a wonderful truth
that the Gospel is without money. Because as we come, we come bankrupt. We come helpless. We haven't
got any good works to plead. All that we can bring before
God is to plead for mercy. Because of our sins, because
of our iniquities, And we're thirsting, we're pleading to
our God. Mercy is welcome news. Oh it is, to those who needy
stand. What welcome news it is. What
welcome news is the Gospel. What welcome news is the mercy
and the blessing that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ. If any
man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. For fullness resides in Jesus
our Lord, that ever abides to answer our need. Whatever need
we have, however thirsty we are, all friends tonight remember,
It's a fullness in Christ. He is all that the soul can need. He meets our need. He knows what
we need. He knows where we are. He knows
where we're thirsting. If any man thirsts, let him come
unto me and drink. Nowhere else. Come to the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ. We come now. I came to Jesus
as I was, weary and worn and sad. Oh, what a blessing it is
to have someone who understands us. You see, the Lord has created
that thirst. The Lord's brought about that
thirst in our hearts, and therefore he will meet that need. And here
we have this gracious word of the Lord. Let him come unto me and drink. You see, the adversaries' souls
will say, well, it's no good you going, no good you coming
to the Lord, you're beyond hope. You're just too great a sinner.
You've just offended God too many times. You've just turned
your back upon God so many times. There's no hope for you. My friends,
the devil will endeavour to halt us. The devil will endeavour
to block our ears. Let us hear such a word as, let
him, the one who is thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. Yes, we don't come unto the Lord
and then not receive the blessing. The Lord doesn't invite us to
come to him and then turn us away. The Lord stands ready to
receive us. When the Apostle wrote the book
of the Revelation on the Isle of Patmos, when he saw a new
heaven and a new earth, when he saw the Holy City, he writes
and he tells us, and he that sat upon the throne said, Behold,
I make all things new. And he said unto him, for these
words are true and faithful and he said unto me it is done I
am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end I will give unto
him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely he
that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
God, and he shall be my son." Now these are wonderful words,
aren't they? But there's also, which follows a very solemn warning
really, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers
and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters And all liars shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death. All those who are unbelieving. But the blessing we have here
before us is, that if there is that thirst, it's a thirst which
God has created in us, It's not something that you and I produce
ourselves. If any man thirsts, bless God he gives us a thirst.
And he would come unto me and drink. And what do we drink? Well, in
a spiritual way, we partake of Christ, don't we? We partake
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one that can meet
our need of salvation. He is the only one that can atone
for our sins. It matters not how black they
are. It matters not how many they
are. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin. All sin. everything. What a blessed thought that is,
isn't it? To think of that. If we drink of Christ, here is
the fulfilment of it. To enter in to the blessing of
the truth of this great blessing, the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh,
the only the only Redeemer, the only mediator between God and
man, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. There is that great and glorious
atonement, so that by His grace we are at one with God. Drink. Come unto me and drink. Is this what does your soul good? The drink of Christ? Is this
what assuages your thirst? Yes, you've been thirsty. You've
been perhaps like that heart panting after the water brook.
Your soul's panted off and thirsted after God for the living God. And then, by faith, you viewed
the Saviour, you viewed the Lord Jesus Christ, suffering upon
Calvary's cross, standing as your great and glorious substitute,
bearing the judgment of God for you, so that you might be set
free. If any man thirsts, let him come
unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water." I believe this shows to us the effect of the blessing
and favour of the work of the Spirit in the life of a believer. It has an effect so that There
flows from Him, as it were, and of His very innermost being,
these evidences of the life of God within, which demonstrates
the life that He has received from Almighty God. There's a
flowing out, there's an evidence of it. God's people's lives are
for his honour and for his glory. And so it is set forth here in
this way. If we're blessed with this thirst,
if we come to the Lord Jesus and drank, it's because the Lord
has given us that faith to believe, and if we possess that faith
to believe, then as the scripture says, there will be these that
will flow rivers of living water from us, which will show forth
His praise, which will show forth His work. It's an important consideration,
is it not, to think on these things, to recognise that the
Lord has wonderfully blessed us with this spiritual thirst. He's wonderfully called us to
himself. We've come to the Lord and we've
drunk all these heavenly draughts of eternal blessing. Then the
result is that there is this flying out from us the evidence
of living water. The evidence of the grace of
God. The evidence of the work of the
Spirit within us. It's not something which is dormant. It's not something which doesn't
exist. It's something real. It's the work of God. And there's
the evidence of it as it flows out. What a blessing it is, is
it not, when we see this in one another of the Lord's people.
The gracious, blessed effect of the work of the Spirit in
their hearts in their lives. Yes, there's evidence of it.
It's flowing out. What does it do? It draws our
heart to them. What else does it do? It brings
honour and glory to God as we rejoice to see His work in one
another's lives. He that believeth on me. Oh,
do we then tonight, are we blessed with evidence that we are amongst
those who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you remember,
he says here, he that believeth on me. Yes, it is so essential
that Christ is all and in all, that we believe on him, that
we drink of him, that we feed on him, that we thirst after
him. It is Christ first and Christ
last. Indeed, as we read, I am the
first and the last, the omega, Alpha and Omega, beginning and
the end, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Oh, my friends, may
we rejoice tonight in the great and glorious cruise of the Gospel. You see, he spoke here, as he
says, But this spake here, the Spirit which they that believe
on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost has not yet
come, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Many of the
people, therefore, when they heard this saying of the truth,
this is the prophet, there were those who did believe. Others
said, this is the Christ. Some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? So, there was a division among
the people because of him. My friends, today, these things still cause and
produce a division. And that division is those who
believe and those who do not believe. Those who thirst and
those who do not thirst. Those who come unto the Lord
and those who do not come unto the Lord, those who drink and
those who do not drink, and those from whose belly flow rivers
of living water, and those from whom there is no flowing of living
water. And so we see, today is the same
as the day in which the Lord lived. a day of separation, a
day of division. But all my friends tonight, may
we hear in our hearts, as it were, imagining this great last
day of the Feast, and the Saviour standing and crying out these
words, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink He
that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. And O may we tonight,
O may we be numbered amongst those who come unto him. Amen.