Alright, turn with me if you
would to John chapter 7. John chapter 7. A man made a statement years
and years ago. He said, I preach as a dying
man to dying men. I preach as a dying man to dying
men and seeing the seriousness and the reality of eternity. Eternity. We are so consumed
with three score and ten. If God gives us to see just past
that into eternity, seeing the reality and the seriousness of
that will cause a man who has been called to preach. It'll cause that man to preach
as a dying man to dying man. That means we preach personally
as sinners to sinners. We preach very personally as
beggars to beggars. And with that being said, our
message that we actually preach is the message of Jesus Christ
himself. His actual message, all we're
doing is repeating what he said. That's what preaching is. That
is what preaching is. We just repeat what God has written
in his word. The words of Christ himself. We're trying to bring the glory
of his message to sinners and beggars who need it. That's all
we're doing. Trying to bring the glory. of
His message to those who need it. And this right here is the
glory of His message. This is what makes the message
of Christ such good news right here. He preached. He came here and He preached
as a dying man to dying men. He preached as the dying man,
the dying man for dying men. And while those who have not
received ears to hear the truth of his message, if God, if a
person is going to enter into the truth of God's word, God
is going to give that person ears to hear and a heart to believe,
right? While those who have not received ears to hear the truth
of his message, while they have themselves convinced. Convinced
that it is a hard, unloving, excluding message. The truth is. When God gives
those ears to hear the truth, when they finally get a hold
of that truth and they finally hear it, the truth is actually
the most comfortable. It's not hard. Oh man, it's so
comfortable. It's the most loving and it is
the most including message that sinner has ever heard. It is
totally including. Man, natural man, is already
excluded. He's already separated from God.
If God leaves him alone, he's already headed in one direction.
But the truth of the message of Jesus Christ is so comforting,
it's so loving, and it's so including. The most including thing a sinner's
ever heard. Now let's listen to it right
here, okay? John 7. Verse 37 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. That's amazing. That's his message. That's his message. That's the
message that his preachers have been commanded to preach to all
the world. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me and drink. That's our message this morning.
At one verse. We're about to look at exactly
what our Lord was saying in this, the truth that he was declaring. And as we look at this, I pray
that the Lord would let us understand and let us enter in to the fact
that the door of the ark is open right now. You know what that
means? The door of the ark is open right
now. God told Noah to build an ark.
And he did it. And the whole time Noah worked
on that ark, he was a preacher of righteousness. That's what
the scripture says. He preached God's wrath against man's sin. And the only hope of escape,
the ark. That's what he preached. And
when that ark was finished, God put Noah and his family in that
ark, and they sat in that ark for seven days with the door
wide open. They sat in that ark for seven
days with the door wide open. Any man or woman who wanted to
come into that ark could have walked right on in. Any man or
woman could have walked right on in. And the sad truth of man's
depravity is no one wanted to. Isn't that awful? I can see men
and women walking up to it. Noah finally finished it. That
was the talk of the town. Noah finally finished the ark. And they're in it. Him and his
family, they're in it. And I can see men and women walking up
to it and looking inside. And Noah sitting there saying,
come on in. Come on in. Welcome. There is safety in here. God
has said, judgment's coming. This right here is your only
hope of life. And they said, no, thanks. See you later. Went on down. After seven days, God shut the
door of that ark. His wrath rained down and it
was too late. It was too late. So I very happily
declare, I've got some great, great news. I have some amazing
news. I pray we might enter into the
fact that the door of the ark is open right now. right now,
wide open, and that ark is Christ. If any person has a desire to
enter into Christ and find eternal safety for his soul, let him
come. Let him come. The door is wide
open. It's just wide open. The news
is so good. This message is so it's better
news than we could ever imagine. And we're going to see why right
here. Look with me at John 7, verse 37, it says. In the last
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
if. If. That if is a big if. That's a
huge if. While most people believe that
if falls on you, it doesn't. It does not. Most people believe
that the if applies to me, but it does not. It does not. Look back with me at chapter
6. Go back one chapter to chapter 6, 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. He that comes will
never hunger, never thirst. Verse 44 says, no man can come
to me. No man can come to me. He's saying,
if you come to me, if, You come to me, you'll never
hunger, and you'll never thirst again, never. But no man can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will give that man spiritual life. I will raise him up at
the last day. Coming to Christ is something
that is totally dependent on His doing. Here's our message. Come to Christ. And coming to
Christ is totally dependent on His doing. If we, it is only
because He. If we, It's only because He. Now go back another chapter with
me to John 5. Verse 40 says, and you will not
come to me that you might have life. Cannot, will not. So the if falls on Him. That's
the point. The if falls on Him. Go with
me back to chapter 7. Verse 37 says, In the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man, any man or woman. Now, do the scriptures teach
that God has an elect? A particular number of certain
people that he has chosen to say, do the scriptures teach
that? Yes, they do. It's on every page. Every page. Do the scriptures teach that
God will save his people and only his people? Yes, the scriptures
do teach that. Then why did Christ say any man? Why? And why would we now stand
up and say this applies to any man if it only applies to God's elect?
Why do we do that? Turn with me over to Matthew
22. Matthew 22. While you're turning
over there, I'll give you the answer. Our Lord did not stand up and
cry this beautiful message to any man. He did not speak these words
of peace and life to any man. He said, I'm speaking to any
man or woman who is thirsty. That's what he said. He said,
if any man thirst. If any man thirst, that's who
he's speaking to. Somebody who's thirsty. Matthew
22 verse 14 says, For many are called, but few are chosen. Many are called, but few are
chosen. Chosen to be what? Thirsty. Thirsty. This flesh does not
naturally thirst for the things of God. It thirsts for the things of
this world. It thirsts for sin, but it does
not thirst for God. Thirst is an acknowledgment of
lack. It's an acknowledgement of need
and it's a desire to fill it. That's what thirst is. These
bodies thirst for water. You've been so thirsty for water,
right? And that thirst is what keeps
these bodies alive. If we did not have thirst, think
about if you didn't have thirst, it wouldn't change the fact that
your body was depleted from water. Right? If you didn't have thirst,
your body's still depleted of water. Empty. Totally empty. Without that thirst,
we would have no idea that we were empty and in need. Right? That thirst is what tells us,
if I don't lay hold on some living water, I'm going to die. That's
what thirst does. Now, this message of Christ goes
into the ears of everybody. Hasn't it gone out to all the
world, right? They've all heard. Many are called,
but few are chosen to receive the gift of this thirst. Few
are chosen to receive an acknowledgment of their spiritual lack. How many people know that they
spiritually lack? Very few. Few are chosen to receive an
acknowledgement of their spiritual need and a desire to fill it. A desire to fill it. But if he's
given that desire to you, and if he's given that desire to
me, if any man thirsts, if any man thirsts I love what David
said, he said, As the deer pants after the water brook, so panteth
my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. Do you want God? Do you want,
not heaven, God? Not heaven, Christ? Do you want him? Do you thirst for forgiveness
from sin? Wouldn't you love to be rid of
sin? Do you thirst for that? You crave
that? Do you need to be in that ark? Do you need to be in that ark
before God shuts the door? God is going to shut that door. I must be in that ark. I have
no option, no hope otherwise. The kingdom of heaven suffereth
violence and the violent take it by force. Does your heart
cry with Jacob? I will not let you go unless
you bless me. I can't, I cannot. I need to be crucified with Christ. I need to be found in him. Must
you have his blood on you? Must you? or else you'll die. Do you thirst for righteousness? Thirst for the righteousness
of Christ, the goodness of who he is, his grace, his mercy,
his favor, his kindness. Do you want him? Do you want
him? You ever ask somebody, would
you like some water? And they say, no, I'm fine. Are you thirsty? Would you like Christ? No, I'm
fine. Do you need his blood poured
all over you? No, thanks, I'm good. Or are
you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Do you want
to be just like him? Conformed to his image? If you
do, go with me over to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 verse 6 says, Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. They shall be, they are going
to be filled with the righteousness of Christ himself. If God has
given you that thirst, here's what this verse of scripture
means. If God has given you that thirst, there are no ifs, ands,
or buts about it. You shall be filled. You shall
be. And that's what our Lord is telling
us this morning. Go with me back over to John 7. John 7 verse 37 says, In the
last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man thirst, let him come. Let him come. You will be allowed to. You will be allowed to. You will
not be killed on sight. Without Christ, I do not recommend
anybody go stand before God. You'll be killed on sight. But he said, if you have this
thirst, let him come. You will be allowed to. You will
not be killed on sight. Because of man's sin, no man
can see God and live. Isn't that what he said? No man
can see me and live. But he said, if I've given you
a thirst for a remedy from that sin, then I've provided you a remedy
for that sin. That's what it means. If you
have a thirst for Christ, not doctrine and not Calvinism, Christ,
Christ, then you have been given Christ. If you need to be in the ark,
come on in. Come on in. The door is wide
open. Verse 37, he said, If any man thirst, let him come unto
me. Let him come to me. Christ is
the living water. Christ is the only one who can
satisfy the thirst that God gives. God gives that thirst. The thirst
is for Christ alone, and he's the only one who can satisfy
it. That woman with the issue of blood, she said, if I can
just get to him. She went everywhere, didn't she?
She tried everything and she said, if I can just get to him.
If I can just touch him. Well, he says, come to me. Come
to me. I ask myself, do I have that
thirst? Do you have that thirst? Come
in the heart You know, people want to come somewhere. They
want to come down front. Don't come down front. You come in
the heart. You come in the soul to the one
you're thirsting for. Go to him. Go to him. He has plenty for you. He has
plenty for you. I love this. Go with me over
to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Psalm 46 verse 4 says,
There is a river. There's 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 right early. There's
a river. There is a river. Don't we love
that song that our dear brother and sister sing for us? There
is a river. Don't you love that song? That
song says, there was a thirsty woman who was drawing from a
well. Her life was ruined and wasted. Her soul was bound for hell. Then she met the master who told
of her great sin. And if you drink this water,
you'll never thirst again. There's a river. that flows from
deep within. There is a fountain. There's
a fountain of blood drawn from God's veins. There's a fountain
that frees the soul from sin. Come to this water. There is
a vast supply. Christ is the river that never
shall run dry. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Come, you come, you bring your
dry, parched, dead heart to the waters of Christ. You ever feel
dry, dead, and parched? Oh, I wish I could bathe in the
rivers of Christ, but I just don't feel anything. I feel dead,
I feel dry. Well then, come to Christ. Walk
up to him in your heart and say, Lord, I feel so dead. I feel
so dry. I feel so parched. I feel so
dehydrated. I feel so empty. I have such
a lack and I need it and I have a desire to fill it. I wish it
was more. Would you throw me in the river? He said, you ask and you'll receive.
He'll say, yes, I will. Come to the water. There's a
vast supply. Go with me one more time back
to John 7. Verse 37 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." You know, people want to make
a work out of salvation any way they can, don't they? Any way
they can. What must I do? What did the
Lord say to do? Drink. Just drink. You know, that is not hard. A baby who is just born knows
how to do that. It's not hard at all. Anybody
can drink. And it's not a work. As a matter of fact, that's something
I do while I'm taking a break. That's something I do for a moment
of rest. I stop working to do that. I know everybody in here
knows what it's like to work outside in the blazing sun. You're
hot, you're sweating, you're tired, you're thirsty. Finally,
you say, let's take a break and get something to drink. Our Lord said, if any man thirst,
any man or any woman who God has given this thirst to, it
doesn't matter how old. And it doesn't matter how young.
Wouldn't you love to see God save one of our children? It
does not matter how young. It does not matter how sinful.
It does not matter who you are. It does not matter what you've
done. If God has given you this thirst
for the living water that only Christ can give, then he says,
you come to me in your heart and you drink. You drink of it. I'm going to close with this
verse of scripture, Revelation 22. Revelation 22 verse 16 says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David. What that means is I'm God and
man. I made David and I'm the son of David. God and man. He
said, I'm the bright and the morning star. I'm the judge,
that high noon sun. And I'm that morning star that
rises with healing in his wings. 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, let him take
the water of life freely. Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Christ will satisfy all your
need. Every drop of it. Every drop
of it. Alright, let's stand together.