John chapter 7. We'll be looking
at verse 37 through verse 39 this morning. The scripture says, 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. But this he spake of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy
Spirit was not yet poured out, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified. The title of the message is a
call at the last day. A call at the last day. The scripture
here says in the last day, that great day of the feast. The day of Jesus' call. It says it is the last day of
the feast. This feast that they were celebrating
is called the feast of tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles. And
it was the last day, it was the eighth day of this feast. And it was the greatest of the
days. They had celebrated for seven
previous days together. This was required of all the
males that they should become unto Jerusalem. And they built
these booths, these little houses that they would live in for seven
days. And it was a joyful time. It
was a festive time. But this last day was the greatest
day. But this feast, I want us to
see something about this feast for a minute. This feast was
a feast of joy and celebration because it reminded Israel of
their deliverance. It reminded Israel how God had
delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh, out of the bondage
of Egypt, by the Red Sea, by parting the Red Sea and delivering
them safely through and destroying their enemies. Remember, this
is how God delivered them. He delivered them on that Passover
night when He had went through and destroyed the firstborn of
Egypt. But those who had the blood were able to escape. Those who had the blood, they
lived. And God delivered them. And Pharaoh,
his heart was hardened. And he followed after them to
capture them again. And God brought them through
with a miraculous parting of the Red Sea. On dry ground they
went through. And when Pharaoh tried to do
the same, you remember, he and his armies were destroyed. And
this feast, this great feast, was to set the minds of the people
of God's favor. God's favor. how He had chosen
Israel, how He had delivered them with His own hand. He set
their minds, and so seven days, imagine seven days of preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what it was. It was a
seven-day conference, and they were preaching the gospel by
these types and shadows, because that's what happened to us, isn't
it? We who believe on Christ, were we not delivered from our
enemies by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ? We were. We were delivered. But you consider this. This great
feast. They had to spend seven days
in these tents. In these tents. That's what the
nation of Israel dwelt in. They had to dwell in booths in
the wilderness. That's where God had led them.
Doesn't that remind us of our mortality? You not suppose that
they were reminded of their mortality by dwelling in those little booths?
Is that not what we're dwelling in right now? Tents that one
day will be taken up. One day. It tells us of our immortality. Each one of us dwells in the
tents of this flesh and each one of us should keep this in
mind that today might be the last day today might be the last day of
the feast. It might be the last day that
we dwell in this tent. There is a day known only unto
God that each one of us will meet. There is a day, it is written
in the chambers of God's mind and decree, that there is a last
day that we will dwell in this earthly tabernacle And it shall
be dissolved, and we shall stand before God. Every one of us,
without exception, will stand before God. Every one of us. Every one of us will stand because
it is appointed unto man once to die. And after this, the judgment. In that day, what place will
these earthly things have? What importance will you place
on the opinions or the praises of men? In that last day of your
feast, in that last day when your booth is to be taken down
and you are to go home, What will these things matter? This carnal nature is so intoxicated
with the pleasures of this world. The natural man is bent on this tent. It's bent. on the things of this world.
You remember that woman that the Lord Jesus healed that was
bowed over for 18 years. She was bowed over so that she
could in no wise lift herself up. She was bowed down and all
she could do was look down. This is how she spent 18 years
of her life looking down. Is that not a picture of us by
nature? Every man by nature can only
look down. He can only enjoy or appreciate
earthly things. Man by nature cannot lift himself
up. He cannot know God. He cannot
see the things of God. This is a picture of the lost
sinner who can only look in the direction of earthly desires.
These things you desire most will soon vanish away. Those things that you feel you
must have will not satisfy you. I know every believer in this
place knows that for sure. We have experienced Every one of us was bent down
looking at this world and we thought the things of this world
would satisfy us. And we found that they did not. They did not satisfy. These things will soon vanish
away. These things will not satisfy. And the more you desire them,
The more you have them, the less happy you will be. Have you considered that today
might be your last? Every one of us have plans after
today. Who says that you have promised
those plans? who says that this is not the
last message you will hear. I tell you, many of those people,
when they heard Jesus that day, that was the last time they heard
Him. Today might be the last day you
hear of Him. Consider. Consider that. Consider today might be your
last. What then? Vanity of vanities. All is vanity and vexation of
spirit. Fool! See that you will stand
before God who will judge you in strict holiness. God will judge every one of us
in strict, absolute, perfect holiness. He will not be a respecter
of persons. He will not judge you because
you were this or you were that here in this world. Whether you
were a king or a pauper, a man or a woman, a boy or a girl,
God will judge you based on His holy law. And the same God that you hate
in this world will judge you. There were many in Jesus' day
when He cried out who never heard Him again. I tell you, all flesh
is grass. Somebody come and cut the grass
yesterday. I didn't even know about it.
Somebody come and cut it. You know I didn't even think
twice about that grass. You think twice about the grass
laying on the ground. It was here and then it's gone.
That's your life. Your life is here and then it's
gone. The glory of your life is as
the flower of grass. You have little children pick
up the flowers and the grass and they give it to you and they
think it's such a prize. You know it's a weed. But you
hang on to it and you say, oh, it's so great. And then in a
day, what happens to that? It just fades away. What about
the glory of your glory days? Where have they gone? You had
glory days? They're gone. They just wither
away. Pretty soon, we're all going
to be gone and no one will even know we were here. That's how unimportant we are.
No one but God. Today is the last day of the
feast for many. Therefore, let us hear what the
Lord Jesus Christ has said. Look at this. A general call. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
manifest in the flesh because this was His purpose, to come
and be a representative man so that He should save men. Our Lord Jesus, when He walked
upon this earth, was not as though He had an angelic body. Our Lord
Jesus Christ was just as much a man, a person, as you or I. He was a man. And He was a man
for a reason, so that He might be a representative man. He did
not take on Him the form of angels, but of the seed of Abraham, so
that He might save men. If any man, if any child of Adam,
if any man, The root cause of our condition, of our total depravity,
is rooted in a man. Your father and mine, Adam. When
Adam sinned, we all died in him. This is why men have no interest
in the things of God and only love the things of the world.
It's because they're born dead in trespasses and sins. The root
cause of sin is because of Adam. He says, Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men, for all have sinned. Therefore, as by the offense
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one. The free gift came upon all men
under justification of life. For by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Do you see that the Lord Jesus
Christ is calling men? The Lord is not distinguishing
between men. He's telling you, let any man,
regardless of where you were born or who you are, who you
think you are. Let every man recognize that
he is a sinner, that you're born of Adam. We all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. Yet in grace, God sent another
man. This is the glorious message
of the gospel is that another man, a representative man, was
sent into the world. so that He should obtain righteousness
and satisfy justice on our behalf. This is why Jesus can call any
man, because He is a man. God sent His Son to represent
a people, to save a people of Adam's race. I like this, in
Romans chapter 9, it tells us about how God has chosen vessels
of mercy and vessels of honor, vessels of dishonor. But He says
this, He's taken them out of the same lump. You see, He's taken His vessels
of mercy out of the same lump of Adam's fallen race, of man,
that He came to save men. came into this world as a man
so that he should restore what Adam took away, restore righteousness
and reconcile the sinner to God. This Jesus did by His life and
His death. Therefore, He has the authority
to say, come, to come, let any man come to Me. Let any man come. The law of God was a sentence
of death to us. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
You see, the law is not an opinion. I was listening to someone, a
political person, so not any religious, but he says the same
things. He wrote a book on the law of
God, The Great Perfect Moral Guide. God's law is not a suggestion. It's a command. And you're cursed if you obey
not all that is written in the law to do them. You're cursed. Man by nature thinks very little
of the law of God and so he bends the law. He takes the law and
he twists the law so that he thinks that he can obey it if
he just tweaks it a little bit. Well, God says love Him with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. I think
that means love Him as best as you can. No, it doesn't. It means
love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all
your strength, with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.
Not do the best you can. God says you must do it. That's
the law. Many men appear to have a form
of godliness like these Pharisees. But I tell you, they're nothing
more than whitewashed tombs. Beautiful on the outside, but
dead on the inside. You see, Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. To save sinners, which we are. Therefore, if any man Any man,
any of Adam's race, hear this message. If any man, no matter
where you are, what you've done, where you've been, Christ calls
any man. And here's the limitation. Now
there's a limitation to this. Any man who's thirsty. Here's
the limitation. Christ came to save sinners.
But I'll tell you what, He came to call thirsty sinners. Thirsty. If any man thirsts,
well, I'm not thirsty. He's not calling you. Any man
that thirsts. Any man that thirsts. At this
time in the ceremony, they were wrapping things up. and the priest
would go down and they would get the water from the river
Shiloh and they would bring this big pitcher of water back up
the hill to the temple and they would pour out this water over
the altar and pour wine over the altar it was a tradition
that they had and it was at this time when they poured the water
over the altar that the Lord Jesus Christ stood up I love
how the Lord takes those opportunities, those times that show that picture
Him and then use them. The Lord takes this opportunity
and He gives something that men at this time especially understood. He gives them this idea of thirst. We've all experienced thirst. But I tell you, these people
in the eastern country, they really experienced thirst. These
people had to travel not in air-conditioned cars like we have. They traveled
on foot or on camel or on donkeys, and they traveled through the
desert. These people understood what it was to thirst. They understood
the value of water. The value of water. To thirst,
is to be depleted of life's necessity. You realize without water there's
no life. I was listening to scientists
jump up and down because they thought they found a drop of
water on Mars. Now I've not heard anything since
But they've said they've found a drop of water, and from that
drop of water, they've diagnosed that there's some alien form
of life somewhere, because they found a drop of water on a distant
planet. It is true. Without water, there's
no life. This thirst our Lord is speaking
of, though, is not natural water. If any man thirst spiritually. This is a spiritual matter. If any man thirst. In other words, do you need spiritual
life? If you do not need spiritual
life, this message is not for you. This message is for thirsty. Those who have no life in themselves. Those who are dead in trespasses
and sins. Those who are like those bones
that have dried out and bleached in the desert. Those who have
no life in themselves, no strength in themselves. Jesus says to
them, Come, if you're thirsty, come unto Me and drink. Drink. Have you seen your sin against
God? Do you thirst for righteousness? Blessed is he that hungers and
thirsts after righteousness, he shall be filled. Do you have a need of God's mercy
as one dying of thirst? These are the ones Jesus is calling. The water of this world cannot
satisfy your thirsty soul. He told that woman at the well,
Jesus said to her in John 4, 14, 13, He said, Whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again. Isn't that so? I got some water.
I'm thirsty. You know what? In a few minutes,
I'm going to get some more because I'm going to be thirsty again.
Is that not true of everything? Everything that we've wanted
and desired has not satisfied our souls? Nothing in this world
can satisfy the thirst of our souls. All that my soul has tried
left but a dismal void. Jesus has satisfied. Jesus is mine. Are you thirsty? Do you need life? Where do you
go? Jesus said, you, any man that
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Let him come. Do you see the graciousness of
this? the freeness of this, let him
come without hindrance. Come, you thirsty for righteousness,
come unto me and drink and be satisfied. When the nation of Israel was
delivered from Egypt into that wasteland and wilderness, they
were thirsty, they were without water in the desert. Two million
people. Two million people, running,
walking in the desert with no water in sight. And they were
thirsty. Yet the source of water was right
there in front of them and they didn't see it. There was a rock,
a rock, right there in the middle of the desert. And God said,
there's water. And everybody looked around and
saw a rock. Where's water? I don't see water. It's in the
rock. It's in the rock. And as soon as Moses struck the
rock, water poured out and satisfied two million people. The most
unlikely source of water for the soul. Jesus Christ is the rock that
supplies Water for the thirsty soul. God leads His elect into
the wilderness so that He may expose their sins. He must strip
us of all of our false hopes and self-righteousness, all of
our self-helps. He must cause our strength to
fade and to dry up and our righteousness become as filthy rags and only
then does God reveal the rock. the fountain of living water. If any man thirsts for salvation,
if any man desires pardon for forgiveness of sins, come to
the rock. Come to Christ. Come to Christ. Come and find complete pardon
for sin. Sinner come and ask of him and
he will give you life freely Life freely Isaiah 55 whole everyone
that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money
There's a condition, isn't it? You got to come broke You've
got to come empty. And if you come broke and empty
with nothing, it's only then you can buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Come to Christ and beg for mercy. He'll give you mercy. He'll give
it freely without a cost to you. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and labor for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good,
and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear
unto me, and come unto me, here, and your soul shall live. And
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David. God says, I'll make a covenant
with you. Come, and I'll make a covenant with you, the sure
mercies of David. Where's David? He's in glory. Matter of fact, where's David's
Lord? He's in glory. He said, that's a covenant I'll
make with you. How sure is our covenant? It's as sure as if
we're there. to everyone that comes. Come
and drink of His righteousness. Come and drink His blood and
find forgiveness. Come and drink of His resurrection,
because He's seated over the throne of God and rules over
all things. And lastly, the realization of
this faith. Go back to your text. 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. thirsty sinner come today? Why would you wait? Don't you know this world has
nothing but sorrow and grief and pain? And yet Christ here
freely gives life. What more could you want? This is a great day for thirsty
sinners. Today is a great day. It's the
day that He gives life. Today. And all who believe on Him shall
have this promise. Out of His belly shall flow rivers
of living water. This is the promise of the Spirit
of God. You who believe, have you not
the Spirit of God dwelling in you? Does not His Spirit testify
with our spirit that we are His? All who believe on Him have what
the Scripture says. Out of His belly shall flow rivers
of living water. Now at this time the Holy Spirit
was not yet fully manifest, but now that Christ has died and
is glorified, His Spirit is poured out not to just those small amount
of people in Palestine, but His Spirit is poured out to all types
of men. No matter where you are, who
you are, this water comes to you. And wherever this water
comes, it gives life. I like that picture in Ezekiel
where the water trickled out of the temple and it came down
and flowed out and all of a sudden it was just ankle deep and then
he went in, it was knees and then it was up to his chest and
it was over his head and he had to be delivered, had to be taken
out, it was so deep. And then he was able to see this
river and how far it went out and it expanded all the way across
Israel and it went out into the sea and everywhere it went it
brought life. There was desert places, and
this water went, and it brought trees in abundance, and fish
in abundance. It's life. Wherever the gospel
goes, there's life. There's life. When the Spirit of God comes
to a sinner, he'll see his need. And I'll tell you, there'll be
nothing to stop him from coming to Christ. Nothing. He'll see his need and he'll
believe. And all who believe will have
this promise that you can be daily refreshed, daily cleansed
by this river of never-ceasing grace. I am cleansed of all my sins. And I'm cleansed of all my sins
right now. and right now, and right now,
and right now. This river never stops cleansing. It never stops flowing. It is
a water of life. Believer, do you not get thirsty
in this life? I do. I tell you, you can go to this
river and you can drink as much forgiveness and grace as you
can possibly tolerate and you've not taken anything away from
Him. There's still infinitely more
forgiveness. There's still infinitely more
grace. If you were to take a thimble
and put it into the ocean and drip it out and take it out,
would you have taken anything from that? I'll tell you what,
you take all the forgiveness that God has And you won't even
begin to drain Him of His mercies. God is a lot more merciful than
we give Him credit for. He is a lot more gracious than
we could ever imagine. And this water flows in you. I like this. In Revelation, and
I'll close with this. In Revelation 22, it says, "...the
Spirit and the bride say, Come. Let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life..." How? "...freely." No cost. No cost. Free. Matter of fact, he says, if any
man were to add to the prophecy of the book or take it away,
his name will be taken out of the book of life. You add anything to this water
or you take anything away from this water of Christ, then you've
missed it completely. This water must be taken freely.
Without cost. Without merit. Believe. Believe. And the day you believe
is a great day. It's a great day. And I tell
you, the last day will be your best day. You who believe, the
last day of our feast, the last day when we fold up this tent
and go home, it will be the best day. the best day for us. Have you believed? May God give
you grace to believe. The stand will be dismissed in
prayer.