We turn again to the book of
Ruth for our text and directing you this evening to chapter 2
and verses 8 and 9. In the book of Ruth chapter 2
and verses 8 and 9. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest
thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let thine eyes be on the fields
that they do reap, and go thou after them. Have not I charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young
men have drawn. These are the first words that
Boaz addresses to Ruth. And really I think there is some
significance in what he has to say in these words. Earlier today we were considering
the opening verse of this second chapter where we're introduced
to Boaz Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelech, and his name was Boaz. And we thought of the significance
of that name in the sense, of course, that he is, in the Old
Testament, a remarkable, typical character, a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And We said something with regards
to that name, the name Boaz, and it reminds us of the strength
of the Lord Christ. Think of those two pillars in
the porch of Solomon's temple that are spoken of there in 1
Kings 7. We read of the building works
of Solomon, this morning seven years in the
building of that temple and there was a porch to the temple in
the porch there were those two pillars and he gave names to
each of them Jaikin and Boaz and the names and the meaning
of the names Jaikin literally he shall establish And Boaz in
it is strength. And so the very name Boaz means
strong. There's strength here. And it
reminds us of that strength that belongs unto the Lord Jesus Christ. God says in prophecy in the Psalms
that he has laid help upon one that is mighty. Who is that one
that is mighty? why it is the one who is equal
to God, because he is God. He is the eternal Son of the
eternal Father, and together with the Holy Ghost, he is one
of those Divine Three Persons. Three Persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost in one glorious Godhead. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty, says God. And so, we see that one of the
names that's given to the Lord Jesus here in Scripture is that
of the strength of Israel. Oh, He is the strength of Israel,
that is His spiritual Israel. He is the strength of the Church.
The Church is built upon that precious foundation. When Peter
makes that great confession of Caesarea Philippi, thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God, upon this rock says Christ. I will build my church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He is that one then
who is strong, why he is able to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by him. So we were considering something
this morning of the significance of this individual that's introduced
to us at the beginning of the second chapter here in the book
of Ruth. But not only did we think of
Christ as that one who is strong and mighty to save and able to
save, We also observed of Boaz that he was a man of wealth. Naomi had a kinsman of her husband,
a mighty man of wealth. And isn't the Lord Jesus that
mighty man of wealth? And yet, when we think of the
Lord Jesus in the days of his humiliation, here upon the earth,
the poverty that seems to surround him at every turn, the circumstances
as he is born into this sinful world, when Mary brings forth
that holy thing, that sinless human nature that's joined to
the eternal Son of God, Well, when we think of the circumstances
there at Bethlehem in Judah, this very Bethlehem, where all
the events in this book are taking place. There's nothing of wealth
there in the birth of the Lord Jesus, as He appears in the fullness
of the time. And when we read the detail in
the Gospels concerning the manner of His life, why He seemed to
live a nomadic life. He had nowhere to lay his head.
He was so dependent. He lived a life of faith. Dependent
upon God. Dependent upon those who are
the people of God. Those blessed women who ministered
to him of their substance. All what favoured women they
were that they ministered. in that fashion to the Lord of
life and glory. He was poor with regards to this
world's goods and yet he is truly a mighty man of wealth. What is the wealth of the Lord
Jesus Christ? It is not a temporal wealth. It's an eternal wealth. It's
a spiritual wealth. He pleased the Father, we're
told, that in Him should all fullness dwell. In Him should
all fullness dwell. What fullness? Well, in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In all the state of His humiliation,
we have to remember He is never anything less than God. Even
that little boy, that real babe so dependent upon his human mother
is never anything less than true almighty God or what is laid
up in the Lord Jesus Christ or the riches of salvation in whom
I hid all the the riches of wisdom and knowledge. Why, to know Him
is to know God. It's life eternal to know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. So we thought this morning of
Boaz. These three significant characters
that we've looked at over these last couple of weeks. Here in
the book of Ruth we've considered something of of Naomi and the
words that she speaks there in the first chapter, as she returns
to Bethlehem and feels the bitterness of her past, the trials and troubles
she'd passed through, feeling herself to be emptied, now she'd
lost her husband, she'd lost her sons. We thought also of
Ruth and that remarkable confession that Ruth makes or the language
of a true Israelite, though by birth she was a Moabitish damsel. And now Boaz. These are the three
principal characters and I want, as I said at the outset, to consider
what he has to say here as he first addresses himself to Ruth. He is the kinsman redeemer. And
we see at the end of the book, of course, the significance of
that. The child is born onto Ruth,
who is now the wife of Boaz. And all leading up, as I've said
previously to that blessed genealogy that we have in the closing verses,
why Boaz, the great-grandfather of David, And Christ is David's
greatest son. Christ comes in that line. He is the seed of David. And so how important are these
words, the first words that ever Boaz, according to what we are
told in Holy Scripture, ever spake unto Ruth. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest
thou not my daughter? Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Get
thine eyes beyond the field that they do reap, and go thou after
them. Have not I charged the young
men that they shall not touch them? And when thou art athirst,
go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the young men have
drawn. There are two things that I want
to try to bring out from these verses this evening. First of
all, here we're reminded of the importance of hearing. The importance
of hearing, and then secondly, to say something concerning the
necessity of drinking. First of all, look at the opening
words. He says to her, the very first words, Hearest thou not? Hearest thou not? And we observe how that negative
at the end really is lending emphasis to what he is saying.
He is saying that she needs first of all to be a careful hearer. Negatives are interesting, aren't
they? Many a time I've referred to
those words in Hebrews 4.15 where we have the double negative.
And the two negatives, of course, make it so positive a statement.
We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. In other words, we have a high
priest who is most definitely touched with all the feeling
of our infirmities, tempted in all points, like as we are yet. without seeing, that's the Lord
Jesus Christ and here I know it's only a single negative but
it does lay some emphasis upon what is being said, hearing is
important and this is the word of the Lord Jesus Christ to us,
not just the word of Boaz, to Ruth Typically, this is what
the Lord says to us. Hearest thou not? How does faith come? Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You tell me how
can I obtain faith? I want faith. One can remember
being in that situation, wanting to know that one was in the possession
of saving faith. One had faith. One believed.
Believed that God is. One was a theist. Believing the
Bible to be the Word of God. But how can I know that my faith
is that faith that is genuine, real, that I'm trusting in the
Lord Jesus Christ? How does faith come? It comes
by hearing. The Lord Jesus again in the Gospel
says, Verily, verily, the hour is coming, and now is when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. All we have to hear, and what
is it that we have to be listening for? We want to hear the voice
of Christ. We want to hear the words of
God coming to us individually, personally. Isn't that one of
the marks of those who are the sheep? We know that there are sheep
and there are goats. It's interesting, isn't it? I
love that hymn that we sang our opening praise at Paraphrase
of Psalm 122. Of course, Isaac Watts has two paraphrases
of that particular psalm 362 is also another paraphrase but
361 is what we sang that's a paraphrase of Psalm 122 And it strikes me, when we sing
that fourth verse, he hears our praises and complaints, and while
his awful voice, that voice that should fill us with awe and reverence,
that's what awful means, it's old-fashioned meaning of the
word. He hears our praises and complaints,
and while his awful voice divides the sinners from the saints,
We tremble and rejoice. That's what the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ does. It makes a difference. And we
see that of course in the Gospel. There's a division amongst the
Jews because of Him. Or there's a division amongst
them because of His words. Three times in John's Gospel
we have that expression, a division. And the cause of the division,
the Lord Jesus and the words, the ministry that the Lord is
speaking. There are those who are sheep, and there are those
who are goats. He'll make the great division,
of course, in the last day. When He comes again, He is that
One to whom all judgment has been committed. And then He will
separate the sheep from the goats, we're told. But there is a work
that takes place even in the day of grace. When the Word of
God comes, He comes to some, the Saviour of death unto death,
Thankfully it comes to others the savour of life unto life
who is sufficient for these things. It makes us tremble when we think
of that that the Lord is doing even in these days and they're
very dark days in many respects. It's a day of grace, we must
never forget that. It's a day where in God's judgments
or in the earth there's confusion. We see it even in high places
at times. that it's the day of grace and
the Lord is still doing His own work and He's making that division
and He's marking out His sheep under the ministry of the Word
and here is the mark of the sheep My sheep hear My voice, He says
and I know them and they follow Me and I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish Oh, to know that voice, the voice
of the Lord Jesus, the voice of our Boaz. He said unto Ruth,
Hearest thou not, my daughter? Oh, are we those who come together
that we might know that we have that mark of the sheep? We hear the voice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And how does he speak? He speaks
in the ministry, in the preaching of the Word. Again, many a time
we've referred you to those words that we find in Romans chapter
10, where the Apostle speaks so clearly of the ministry, the
preaching of the gospel of the grace of God. What does he say?
Verse 13, "...whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent, as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings
of good things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For
Isaiah saith, Lord, you hath believed our report. So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? How shall they believe in him
whom they have not heard? Well, we heard that voice that
voice is heard still in the preaching, it was heard in the preaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, but then subsequently his voice
was also heard in the ministry of his apostles. Remember how
Paul reminds the the church of Ephesus of that truth? Ephesus,
there in Asia Minor, where the Lord Jesus Christ had never been.
It was Paul who went there in his missionary journeys preaching
the gospel and there were those who heard the voice and believed
and he tells them ye have not so learned Christ if so be ye
have heard him and been taught by him are we those who have
heard him are we those who have been taught by him that is saving
faith it is not that that comes by the persuasion of men It doesn't
come by a persuasive preacher. It's a work of majesty. It's
a work that Boaz, the mighty one, the strong one, must accomplish
in us. Here then we see quite clearly
the importance, the importance of hearing. Hearest thou not,
my daughter, he says, go not to glean in another field, neither
go from hence. but abide here fast by my maidens."
Now, think for a while about the place. The place where the
gleaning is to be done. This is the message there. Ruth
is to glean only in the field of Boaz. That's what she's to do. She's
only to go into that field. Go not to glean in another field,
neither go from hence, but abide here fast by my maidens. Let
thine eyes be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after
them. What are we to make of all of
this? Well, there was an old particular Baptist back in the
18th century, the name of John McGowan. And he has a remarkable
book, his exposition of the book of Ruth. And what the old particular
Baptist minister says here is that what is being taught is
that Christ is the one who is pleased to speak to his people
when they're in their own proper fields. That's what he deduces. There is a proper field where
his people are to do their gleaning. And where is it? It's in the
local church. And as I was seeking to make
preparation for this evening I thought about the circumstances
we're in, the day we're in. And I think it's wonderful really
that we've been able to use modern technology. There are those who
are having to shield and stay at home and services can be streamed
and so various individuals who are not able to be present can
hear the ministry in that way it's a provision, it's the Lord's
provision I don't dispute that for a moment but how we as men
and women, sinful men and women abuse what God gives us And that's
what I fear happens so readily. There's almost a wanderlust.
People don't want to be gleaning in their own field. Oh no, they
can go online and they can go to this field and that field
and the other field. They can go here, there and everywhere.
And I'm afraid that that is something of what does tend to happen in
many places. This is what McGowan says, he
says, where the pastor is obliged to preach, the members are obliged
to hear. We might say not just the members,
the congregation. We believe in a congregated church,
a gathered church. Historically, particular baptists
certainly would have had their church covenants. And they made
much of what the Apostle says there in 2 Corinthians 8 verse
5. Writing to the church at Corinth
he reminds them how they first gave their own selves to the
Lord and unto us by the will of God. It was not just a commitment
of themselves to the Lord God but to one another. A covenanting
as it were in the local church. That was their church. That was
where they met. And they were seeking to follow,
of course, the pattern that we find in the New Testament. And
we see it being borne out in the Acts of the Apostles when
the day of Pentecost comes. Remember what it says at the
beginning of Acts chapter 2. They are all together. They're all together. They're
gathered together. There it says, in one place. And there is that glorious outpouring
of the Holy Ghost. They were all with one accord,
it says, in one place. And then suddenly, the sound
from heaven, the outpouring of the Spirit, Christ exalted, the
Prince and the Saviour, all granting that best of all donations, giving
the Holy Spirit. And then at the end of that chapter,
what do we read? Fear came upon every soul. Many
wonders and signs were done by the apostles. All that believed
were together. And they had all things common
and sold their possessions. and goods and parts he dempt
to all men as every man had need and they continuing daily with
one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to
house did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart
praising God and having favour with all the people and the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved." There was
a church gathered. And where was it first gathered?
It was gathered together there at Jerusalem. But then there
are other churches gathered in certain localities as we have
the preaching of the apostles. It's first at Jerusalem, then
Judea, then Samaria, then the ends of the earth. But there
is always that principle, they are brought together, they are
gathered together. When we come to Acts chapter
20, there in verse 7 we're told, upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together. to break bread. Or they would
come together. They gathered together when?
The first day of the week. It's that truth of Scripture,
the doctrine of the church, the doctrine of the local church.
And it is its folly and its sin to forsake the local church. You know the words of Hebrews
10.25 forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together, he says,
as the manner of some is. But you know, sometimes we just
quote verses and we forget to take account of the context. And it's interesting there in
Hebrews 10 to to read on, to read on into the
next verse and to carefully observe the juxtaposition of those verses. Why do they stand side by side? There in Hebrews 10, verse 25,
verse 26, Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the
manner of some is, but exhorting one another. And so much the
more as ye see the day approaching, for if we sin willfully, after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. with a certain fearful looking
forward of judgment and fiery indignation, we shall devour
the adversaries. We are not to willfully forsake
the assembling of ourselves together. That's what it is saying. It's
no light thing, you see. We are to glean in that field
where the Lord has placed us. And what does God do in that
place? He makes provision. There's protection. There's protection for the church.
There's provision for the church. He says there in verse 9, Let
thy knives be on the field that they do reap, and go thou after
them, that is, the maidens, the reapers. Have not thou charged
the young men that they shall not touch thee? And when they are to thirst,
go unto the vessels and drink of that which the young men have
drawn. There's safety here. Uru is going
to be quite safe, quite secure if she sticks close by these
maidens, these reapers in this particular field. You see, God
is in the midst of his people. God is in the midst of Zion.
But what are we to think of saying? We believe, as I've sought to
say, in that principle of the gathered church, gathered together
as a local congregation. And that local church, it's a
microcosm, as it were, of THE church. This is how the word
church is used. Sometimes the word is used in
Scripture and it refers to the whole company of the election
of Christ. That is THE church. And that
church, of course, includes all those who are the Lord's people
over the whole face of the earth. But not only that, there is that
church that is in heaven, that glorious church, the church militant,
as it were, on earth, the church triumphant in heaven. It's one
church. But then, There is a microcosm
of that, and it's the local church, that's the importance of the
local church. And the Lord keeps his church. The gates of hell, Christ said,
shall not prevail against it. Though this is brought out in
the language of the Psalms, as I'm sure you're so aware, Zion,
as Zion is spoken of there in the Psalms. Psalm 46, God is
our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Selah, there is a river. the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High." God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her. And that's
right early. Oh, the Lord God is in the midst
of His people, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem. So
the Lord is round about them that fear Him. henceforth forever
we are taught. And what does God do when he
saves his people? He saves them not in glorious
isolation, he saves them to bring them into the church. He sets
the solitary in families. That's the wonder of it. It's
a great privilege, is it not, to be in the local church. That
church, I really in many ways prefer the word congregation. That's how it's rendered, as
I'm sure you're aware, in Tyndale's version. The authorised version
follows Tyndale, probably 80% plus of our authorised version
is Tyndale's version, but the King did have some influence,
you know. James VI of Scotland, James I of England, he insisted
on them put in church. where Tindalad congregation the
church the congregation is gathered together in a local place that's
God's ordinance and here God protects his people he keeps
them safe in the midst of the church and he makes every provision
for them also and that really Brings me to the second thing
I want to say, and that's the necessity of us drinking. The Lord provides. And what is
the provision that is made here? Well, Ruth is to hear. Hearest thou not, my daughter?
She hears. She hears his voice, his instruction.
And he says to her there at the end of verse 9, When thou art
at thirst, go unto the vessels. and drink of that which the young
men have drawn. We think of the language that
we have in Isaiah 55. Think of the language there,
the opening verses of that particular chapter, O everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye,
buy and eat ye. Come, buy wine and milk, without
money and without price. What an invitation to those who
are thirsty that they are to come to the waters and they can
partake so freely. And then he goes on later in
the chapter, incline your ear, he says, and come unto me. Hear,
and your soul shall live, and I will make with you an everlasting
covenant, even the sure mercies of David. And you see there,
in Isaiah 55, verse 1, verse 3, those are the verses, we see
the coming together of those two things. There's the hearing,
and there's the thirsting. He that thirsteth is to come.
But then the Lord also says, come unto me and hear. These
two things come together. It's strange, isn't it? We find
when we're hearing the voice of the Lord God in scripture,
when that word is brought home to us personally, specifically.
Why? It's drink to our souls. It's
meat to our souls. It feeds us. It nourishes us. Or do we come together then as
those who have an appetite? When we come into the services
of God's house as the Lord's Day comes, do we come as those
who are thirsting? Or those who are hungry? We need to be refreshed. We want
to drink, we want some nourishment to come into our very souls. Is that how we come? Do we look
to the Lord to grant that we might have such a spirit as that?
A hungry, a thirsty. Oh, David knew it, didn't he?
Oh God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee, he says. My
soul thirsteth for thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, he
says. How he longs after God. that
God would come and meet with him and minister to him. And
what do we have here? Looking at the text before us
and thinking of it in that spiritual sense, thinking of it as a type, Boaz, a type of Christ, the words
of Boaz to Ruth, the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to you,
to me. What does he say? When thou art
athirst, go under the vessels and drink of that which the young
men have drawn now where did they draw that water that was
there for the reapers and also now this is the provision that's
made for dear Ruth in all her gleaning where did they draw
the water well here we are at Bethlehem
verse 4 behold Boaz came from Bethlehem and said unto the reapers
the Lord be with you and they answered the Lord bless earth
he comes from Bethlehem and there's that well at Bethlehem
that's why I had to read that passage at the end of 2nd Samuel
I know it principally concerns David's mighty men, because the
opening part, it's David's dying words really. It's that comfort
that he finds in the everlasting covenant, that covenant that's
ordered in all things and sure. But I read it, I read it because
of what we have there in verse 15 following. David longed and
said, Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the
well of Bethlehem, which is by the gates. And the three mighty
men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water
out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gates and took
it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink
thereof. but poured it out unto the Lord, and he said, Be it
far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood
of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he
would not drink it." These things did these three mighty men. It's
the well of Bethlehem. It's the well of Bethlehem where
they draw this water. And what does the well of Bethlehem
speak of? Well, he speaks of the well of
salvation, or more particularly, we might say, the wells of salvation. Isaiah 12-3, Therefore with joy
shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. You see, The type is nothing
compared with the antitype. The type is the wow, the singular. The antitype is the wows, the
plural. The wows of salvation. What are
we to understand by those wows of salvation that are spoken
of there in Isaiah 12? Well, there are two particular
wows that are quite clearly revealed to us in the New Testament and
it's those blessed persons in the Godhead it's God the Son
it's God the Holy Spirit all remember the words of the Lord
Jesus when he speaks to that woman at the well at Sychar and he speaks he speaks of the
well, he speaks of the water the water that I shall give him
he says shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting
life. Why, this man had something to
give that woman. She'd only come to draw water
naturally. But here is one who speaks of
another water. It's speaking of himself, it's
speaking of his gospel. And now we have this bigger time
and again in scripture we read in Ezekiel 47 of that river that
proceeds out of the temple of the Lord. And again when we think of the
temple of the Lord in the Old Testament what is it? It's a
type. It's a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He himself makes that so abundantly
clear, speaking to the Jews in John 2, when he says to them,
destroy this temple, in three days I will build it again. They
think of the temple standing there in Jerusalem. But he is
not speaking of that. He is speaking of that of which
that building was but a type. He's speaking of himself, the
anti-type. He's speaking of himself as that
one, you see, who has come in the fullness of the time, God
has prepared him a body. He has come to tabernacle amongst
men, he has come to accomplish the great work of salvation,
and he does it by the death of the cross, and then he rises
again the third day. Or destroy this temple in three
days, I will build it again. They didn't understand he was
speaking of the temple of his body. The temple is a type of
the Lord Jesus, and therein Ezekiel 47, you can read it there, the
opening 12 verses of that chapter. We read of the river that proceeds
out of the temple of the Lord. And what does it become? A river
to swim in. A river to swim in. And wherever
the waters go, there's healings. And remember how that's taken
up right at the end. of Holy Scripture. The very last
chapter, there in the opening verses of Revelation 22, John
says, He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the
midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was
there the tree of life, which bear twelve manner of fruits,
and yielded a fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree were
for the healing of nations." Oh, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a well, a well of salvation. When they were to first go into
the vessel, drink of that which the young men have drawn." If
I remember right, McGowan says, well, the young men, who are
they? Oh, they're the ministers of the Word of God. They're the
preachers of the Gospel of Christ. Where do they draw their message
from, they draw it from the wells of salvation from the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. If the preacher doesn't mention
Christ in his preaching, what sort of preaching is that? You
know, there are those who'd say, well, this is ridiculous what
you're saying. You're saying that Ruth is full of gospel,
but this is just a narrative. Well, it is a narrative. It's
historic. It's real events, as I've already
said. These are things that did happen, and we're told specifically
when they occurred. It was during the days when the
judges ruled. There in the opening words. The
specific period in the history of Israel. But it's not just
history. It's not just history, is it?
It's Christ in all the Scriptures. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that one, you see, who is the well of salvation. Then Israel sang this song, we're
told, spring up a well, singing onto it. Oh, do we long that
this well might spring up in us, that it might spring up as
that, that the Lord speaks of to that woman. the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. But then also in the New Testament
do we not see another well of salvation in terms of the ministry
of the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit? Remember when the Lord is there
in the temple in the 7th chapter of John's Gospel. He's there,
it's the Feast of Tabernacles. 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. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Same as in chapter 4. But then,
this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because
of Jesus was not yet glorified. Oh, there was a glorious coming
in state of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost. He was
there, of course, beforehand. He was there in the Old Testament.
David was praying, or does pray there in Isaiah 51, Take not
thy Holy Spirit from me. He had so sinned against God,
he was fearful, and he committed that unpardonable sin, the sin
against the Holy Ghost. The Spirit is there in the Old
Testament. He's there in creation, of course. but there was a glorious
coming of the Spirit and it was when Christ was glorified as
Peter says in being exalted by the right hand of God He has
shed abroad this which ye now see and hear That was Peter's
message on the day of Pentecost. Christ is the one, the glorified
Savior, who spreads abroad the Holy Ghost. He speaks of Him
there in John's Gospel, remember. Chapters 14, 15 and 16. And what does the Lord say? He
shall not speak of himself whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak. And he will show you things to
come. He shall glorify me. for he shall take of mine and
shall show it unto you." Oh, that's the ministry of the Holy
Ghost to take of the things of Christ and to reveal them to
us. We cannot know the Lord Jesus
Christ but by the Holy Ghost. No man can say that Jesus Christ
is Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Oh, we need Him. Oh, let us not
grieve the Spirit of God. when we come together to worship,
let us be those who would indeed hear, hear the Scriptures, hear
the voice of the Lord Jesus speaking to us by His Spirit in the Scriptures. "'Hearest thou not, my daughter?'
he says. "'Ah, but what else does he say?'
There in the opening words of the Song of Solomon, chapter
5, eat, O friend, drink, yea, drink abundantly. Oh, beloved,
oh, to slake our thirst, that spiritual thirst, as we come
to partake of that blessed well, even the wells of salvation.
Well the Lord be pleased to bless His Word to us. Amen.