Let's turn back to John 7 again. John 7 verse 37 says, In the last day, that great day
of the feast, They were celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. And
it 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. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me. Where is God? Where is He? He said, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me. If a person is going to come
to Christ, doesn't he need to know where Christ is? Where is He? Where is God? If any man thirst, look at Revelation
21 with me. Revelation 21 verse 6 says, 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. Freely. Look at chapter 22, Revelation
22 verse 17 says, And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst,
Come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Freely. Our Lord said in Isaiah
55, Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he
that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Come. Where is God? I told you a story that I got from
Brother Cody just a minute ago. Now let me tell you what I got
from Brother Walter. I've been to Mexico one time, and Brother
Walter told this, and I've told you this before, but it's been
a while. As soon as he told me this, I went and wrote it down. Brother Walter Groover went to
Mexico, I don't know, was it in the 60s? Something like that,
a long time ago. And things were different back
then. Very primitive. It's still primitive,
but it was really primitive. And Brother Walter would go out
into these villages and he would set up a projector screen and
he would project a few things and then he would preach and
then see if the Lord brought a listener or anybody, the Lord
laid it on somebody's heart to have a question. And a lot of
times he said what would happen is somebody would hear the message
and say, would you come to my house and tell my family about
this? And that's how these works got started. Well, Brother Walter
was scheduled to go preach to a lady and her family in their
house in another town. And the town was a good ways
off, but the roads were so horrible, he said, you couldn't drive more
than about five to 10 miles an hour. He said, the roads were
so small, they just carved out paths for mules or whatever. And he said, his tires and his
Jeep were on both sides of the pass. And he said, it was rocks
and it was holes and it would be trees. And he'd have to get
his car through like this. He said, you couldn't turn around.
He said, if somebody had another car and you met him, you had
to talk about who's closer to a turnaround, and one person
would have to back up. So he said he was driving out,
and he came to these two native men standing in the road with
muzzleloader rifles, and he said they were not going to get out
of the road. So he pulled up to them. He said,
I was scared. And he pulled up to them, and
they both came around. He had his windows down. He didn't
have any air conditioning. They each came to a door. And
this one man, he's standing there with a gun, he said, are you
a missionary? And Brother Walter said, yes, I am. And he said,
I am so sad, and I don't know what
to do with myself. He said, my daughter was 16 years
old and we just finished burying her. He said, I know there is a God,
but I don't know where he is. He said, that's my house. He's
Walter said it was just a little grass hut. He said, would you
come into my house and tell me who God is? And Brother Walter
said, I can't. I'm very sorry, but I can't.
I'm scheduled to meet with a lady, and it's a long drive. And he
said, but I have to drive back this way tomorrow. And I will
stop here, and I'll talk to you. And so they agreed on a time.
And Brother Walter came back the next day, and he pulled up
to this little grass hut, and he said he couldn't get inside
the front door. He said it was packed full of
people. This man immediately went into
town and he started telling out everybody, there is a man coming
who's going to tell us who God is. And if you want to find out
who God is, you better get to my house. Walter said, the Lord
saved that man. His name was Felice. That means
happy, happy. He found out where God is. If
any man thirst for the truth, if any man thirst for rest in
Christ, if any man thirst for a saving knowledge of Christ,
the Christ, if any man thirst for true union with Him, If any man thirst for his love,
love from him, affection from him, our Lord said in our text
back in John 7, if any man thirst, let him come
unto Me. Where is he? How can a man come
to Christ who has no idea where he is? Where is God? Some people say, well, he's in
that little cross that I have hanging on the wall. That's where
God is. Or hanging around my neck. No, that's a graven image. God
said that's an abomination. He's not in there. Not in that. Well, he's in every building
that has a steeple on top of it. Every building that has a
pastor is paid to hire a pastor. Every building that claims to
teach the Bible. And specifically inside that
building, he's down front. There's a little area right down
here where he is. He's not so much in the back
and he's not in the pew. You got to get up from there
and you got to come to right here to find God. No. Go over to Acts chapter 7. Acts 7 verse 47 says, Solomon
built him in house. How be it the most high dwelleth
not in temples made with hands? As saith the prophet, heaven
is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will you
build me, saith the Lord? Or what is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these
things?" Where is God? He is seated on His throne in
heaven. That's where He is. But listen
to what He said about Himself. He said in Colossians 1, He is
before all things, and by Him all things consist. He's in everything
that happens because He's doing everything that happens. Turn
over to Ephesians chapter 4 with me. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 6. One God and Father of all, who
is above all, and through all, and in you all." Where is He? He's above all, He's through
all, and He's in you all. Who is Ephesians talking to?
The elect. chosen before the foundation
of the world, adopted by Jesus Christ, right? If we're in Christ,
Christ is in us. God is omnipresent. There is nowhere that God is
not. Nowhere. Go with me over to Psalm
139. Psalm 139 verse 1, O LORD, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine up-rising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is
not a word in my tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and
before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, Thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. There is
nowhere that He is not. Nowhere. Well, if He's already here, If He's already here, how do
I come to Him? If there's nowhere that He is
not, how do I come to Him? If He's already above all, through
all, and in, how do I come to Him? Look back at our text at
John chapter 7. Verse 38 says, "...he that believeth on Me,
as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water." Believing on Him is coming to Christ. That's what it is. In Hebrews
11 verse 6 he said, Without faith it is impossible to please Him,
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. Believing
on Him is coming to Christ. Now what must a person believe
concerning Him to come to Him? What must a person believe? Do
you believe in Jesus? Yes, I believe in Jesus. Well,
what must a person believe to come to Christ? Believing is
an issue of the heart. What must a heart come to in
order to come to Christ? I just want to give you five
things. Five things that a heart must come to if a heart desires
to come to Christ. I'm not talking about coming
to religion. Coming to Christ. Five things.
Here's the first one. That heart must come to God. If a heart is going to come to
Christ, that heart is going to bow to God. Turn over to Isaiah
chapter 6. Isaiah 6 verse 1 says, In the
year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. That's Jesus Christ right there.
That's Jesus Christ sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and
his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face,
and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, woe is me, for I'm undone, because I'm a
man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the
Lord of hosts. The first thing a sinful soul
is going to see when he comes to Christ is, this is God. I'm going to come to Christ so
He can get me to God. No. If a person is going to come
to Christ, he's going to come to God Himself. And if he doesn't
come to God in Christ, then he hasn't come to Christ. This one who All our lives we
flippantly talk about, flippantly say His name, flippantly think
about. He is holy, holy, holy. A sinner is going to realize
when they see Him as God, I actually can't come to Him. He's got to
come to me. This is God. All judgment has
been put into His hand. He's the one who holds the keys
of hell and death. This is God. The first thing a sinful heart
must come to when he comes to Christ is the throne of God. And it must believe with every
fiber of its being that Jesus Christ is sitting on that throne.
If a sinner is going to come to Christ. Here's the second
thing that a heart must come to. He must come to THE man. THE man. He must come to THE
God. And he must come to the man,
Christ Jesus, the man. God is too high. He's too holy
to be the substitute for a vile, sinful creature like this. So
God became the man. The man. My substitute, this
is good news, my substitute is the perfect man. If you had somebody that you
wanted to represent you, you want him to be perfect. The perfect
man. Go with me over to Luke 23. Luke 23 verse 4 says, Then said Pilate to the chief
priest and to the people, I find no fault in this man. There's no fault in this man.
Verse 13 says, And Pilate, when he had called together the chief
priests and the rulers and the people, said unto them, You have
brought this man unto me as one that perverteth the people. And
behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault
in this man touching those things whereof you accuse him. This
man is sinless. Verse 21 says, But they cried,
saying, Crucify him, crucified him. And he said unto them the
third time, Why? What evil hath he done? I have
found no cause of death in him." No cause of death. Then why is
he dying? Why is he dying? Sinful heart. Come to the man. Come to the man. Come to the
sinless one. The one who took my place. The only one who could. If the
sinner comes to Christ, he's going to come to the one and
only substitute for sinners. That's who he's going to come
to when he comes to Jesus Christ. Look at John 19 with me. John 19 verse 1 says, Then Pilate
therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him. And the soldiers plaited
a crown of thorns, and put it on His head. And they put on
Him a purple robe, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! And they
smote Him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again,
and said unto them, Behold, I bring Him forth to you, that you may
know that I find no fault in Him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing
the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said unto them,
Behold the man." The perfect man. The substitute
for sinners. Come to the man. Come see a man. Here's the third thing. If a
heart desires to come to Christ, the Christ, then that heart must
come to the cross itself. That heart must believe the accomplishment
of the cross. Look right here in John 19 at
verse 30. It says, When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished. And He bowed His head, and gave
up the ghost. Verse 32 says, Then came the
soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which
was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and
saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith
came there out blood and water. justification and sanctification. Total justification, total sanctification. When he said it is finished,
that means everything that God requires for a sinner to be in
His presence is finished. It's all finished. There's nothing
else to be done. There is nothing else to be done.
There's nothing else that God requires for salvation. If a
sinner is going to come to Christ, a sinner is going to have to
come to a finished work. A finished work. One that requires
nothing else. How can that be? Look at Matthew
27 with me. Matthew 27 verse 50. Jesus, when He had cried again
with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And
the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were
opened. And many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection,
and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." That
has always been such a wonderful thing to think about. It was so finished. Life was so freely given. When Christ arose, many of the
saints that were buried near Him arose with Him and walked
into town. He is life. Death is accomplished. Verse 54 says, Now when the centurion
and they that were with Him Watching Jesus, saw the earthquake and
those things that were done, they feared greatly. These were
some wise men. They feared God, saying, truly,
this was the Son of God. This was the Son of God. God
satisfied Himself. That's how it can be finished. That's how it can be done. How
do we know this is true? How do we know it's true? I used
to teach guitar lessons and I taught a lot of kids, middle schoolers
who think they know everything. And it is sad to say, but they've
already developed their own opinion on God, whether or not there
is one. And most of them don't believe
that there is one. And this was in a country town
of Rocky Mount. This was not even a big city. And it shocked
me and it broke my heart for them to think, do you have any
idea what you are bringing upon yourself? All manner of sin can
be forgiven but one, unbelief. Believing is coming to Christ. How can we know that this is
true? You tell the average person this
and they don't believe it. I don't believe that. How can
we know that this is true? How can a sinner believe this
with all of his heart? Well, that's the fourth thing
that a sinner must come to. In order for a sinner to come
to Christ, the Christ, that sinner must come to the tomb. Must come to God, must come to
the man, must come to the cross, must come to the tomb. It's a
wonderful place to come. Look at Luke 24. Luke 24 verse 1 says, Now upon
the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came
unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared
and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled
away from the sepulchre, and they entered in and found not
the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments, And as they were afraid and bowed down their
faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living
among the dead? He is not here. Where is God? He's not here, but is risen. Remember how He
spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of
Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified,
and the third day risen again? And they remembered His words,
and returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto
the eleven, and to all the rest. If a sinner is going to come
to Christ, He must come to a victorious Savior. He is not coming to someone
who is trying to do any work. He is not coming to someone who
has started the work and we're all waiting to see if it gets
finished. A sinner must come to a risen
King and a glorified God. If a heart comes to Christ, He's
going to come to the God. He's going to come to the man.
He's going to come to the cross, the tomb. And if a heart ever
sees all of that, if a heart ever believes that, He's going
to come to the Lord. The Lord. My Lord. He said, I am the way. That heart is going to believe
this, there's only one way. Well, can't we bend it over here
a little and fellowship with what they believe? Can't we bend
it over there a little bit and fellowship with what they believe?
No. That's very narrow-minded. I know. That's very dogmatic. I know. But there's only one
way. He said, I am the truth. That heart is going to believe
there is one truth. You're telling me that you're
preaching the truth and everybody who does not preach what you
are preaching according to the Word of God, they're all not
telling the truth? That's right. There is one truth
and it is not Gabe Stoniker, it's the Word of God. He said, I am the life. That
heart is going to believe everything outside of Christ is dead. It's dead. And I don't need to
come down front. I don't need to come to the altar.
I don't need to come to the preacher. I don't need to come to religion.
I must come to Him. Him. Him. They're going to start
to see a person. Come to Christ, but don't move
a muscle. Come to Christ, but don't move
a muscle. Our text says in John 7, it says
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." I want to come to Christ, so I ask, Lord, draw me. No man can come except the Father
draw him. Lord, draw me. Draw me, I pray. Draw us all, we pray. Let's stand
together.