Turn with me to John chapter
7, the Gospel of John chapter 7. Our Lord said in His Sermon
on the Mount, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst, they'll
be filled. Blessed. Anyone hungry this morning? By hunger, I mean for the Word. His sheep, they eat grass. He makes them to lie down in
green pastures. Anyone hungry for the gospel?
Anyone hungry for Christ? Anyone hungry? I look around and I don't see
anyone that's very lean in body. None of us. We're getting plenty of this
food. The world has. Did anyone ever feel lean of
soul? You know, what causes hunger?
If you're hungry, why? What does that mean? It means
you're alive. If you weren't alive, you wouldn't
hunger. Kills hunger. Sickness. Sickness. Death. Anyone thirsty? Anyone thirsty? Gotta have water. It's a sign
of life. Water even more than bread. You
can't go three days without water. It's a sign of life. Anyone thirsty for the Word?
Anyone thirsty for the Gospel? Anyone thirsty for the truth?
For Christ, He's the water of life. David wrote in the Psalms,
listen to what he wrote in Psalm 63. Listen to this. This is wonderful. My brother
read it on Wednesday night, a few weeks ago. Oh God, Thou art my
God. Early will I seek Thee. My soul
thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee. In a dry and thirsty land where
no water is, see Thy power, Thy glory, as I have seen Thee in
the sanctuary, because Thy lovingkindness is better than life. Anybody thirsty? Well, John 7,
our Lord cried this. John 7, look at verse 37. 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. We read that psalm. Do you love
the psalms? Do you read them? Do you? Why? Why do you read them? Are you
supposed to? Have to? No. You need them. They
help you. You're thirsty. You're thirsty. That's why you read them, don't
you? You come here. Why do you come here? Why did
you come here? It's Sunday. Anyone thirsty? Thirsty? You come here because there's
something you need? Something you want? Something
you need to hear? Something you need to do? You
need to fellowship with the saints? Need to come to the table? Eat? Feed? You need to be in the fold. You need to be where His people
are and hear, so hopefully you'll hear His voice. You need to sing
to Him. You need to sing forth your thanksgiving. You need this song. You need
to sing this song. Do you? Do you really? That's
thirst. There's an old saying, you can
lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. I can preach
Christ to water, but I can't make anybody thirsty. I can't
make anybody want Him. But I can pray. That's all I
can do. Every Sunday, every Wednesday,
the Word, Christ. Right? The water, the water,
the water, the water. This book began with water in
Genesis 1. Water. It ends in Revelation
22 with water. Did you know that? Any man thirst? Revelation 22, Spirit and the
bride say come, and him that heareth say come, and he that
is athirst come, take the water of life for you. Begins with
water and it ends with water. See,
life depends on water. Water, water, water. Everywhere.
In John 1, it began with water. John was baptizing in water. And Christ came and got in that
water. Now that's much more, brother.
You're with me. It's much more than him needing
to be baptized. It's showing us that that water
is Christ. He's in that water. Everybody there who believed
John's preaching got in that baptismal pool, got in that Jordan. Christ got in there. John chapter 2, our Lord turned
water into wine. Chapter 3, there's a man, a Pharisee,
didn't know God, didn't know Christ. He said, except a man
be born of water and spirit, You can't enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. Water. Chapter 4, a woman came to a
well. Our Lord was sitting there. Water was on the well. Not in
it. She left with this fountain to
bring it up there. Created a thirst. Chapter 5,
a man is lying by a pool of water. And he can't get in. He won't get in. And Christ the
water came by and put him in himself, and put himself in him. Do you understand? How sad, how tragic for someone
to die of hunger sitting at the table. You know what? One of the saddest things you'll
ever see is somebody die of anorexia. Have you ever seen that? Starve themselves to death. Have
you ever seen that happen? My favorite singer, I'm just
going to tell you right now, my favorite singer of all time,
female singer, was Karen Carpenter. She still is. She had a voice
that God gave her. I still think she's the most
beautiful singer ever. She killed herself. She starved
herself to death. She became a skeleton and she
died. How sad is that? I'm watching
people do that very thing, spiritually. This world, fat, full of the
things of this world, but dying spiritually. I'm watching it
happen. That's sad. And there's nothing you can do
about it. You can tell them, listen, eat, eat, eat. I'm fine. Eat. I'm fine. The only people
that are fine are those that need to eat. They hunger and
they thirst. Do you understand that? How sad,
how sad to die lying by the pool
and never get in it. Our Lord said, He that believeth
on me and is baptized shall be saved. But there is a pool and
some have never gotten in it. How sad is that? How sad is that? I can't make
it happen. Anybody thirsty? Anybody,
when somebody confesses Christ and gets in that pool, anybody
want to get back in it? Do you? Do you? It's life. You're life. Hunger. Thirst. Give me Christ or I'll
die. Am I meeting together? I hear
Christ. Where? I'm coming. It's life. Water. Blessed water. We're created
in it. Except you be born of water. We're created in it in a womb.
Seed is planted in a mother's womb. And what happens? It's
encased in water. Water. Nine months of water. It's formed in it. Created in
it. Formed in it. Boy, what breaks forth when you
know life is coming? What happens first? Huh? What
happens? Water! Out of that womb. I want to confess Christ. Life
is happening. Let me in that pool! A man came
running up to me years ago. sitting on my tractor, waving
me down. I got off. What do you need? Water running out of his face.
Water running out of his face. I want to confess Christ. Blessed is the day of the thirst. Created in it, come forth from
it, washed in it, You begin to thirst for it, your whole life
is around it. Water. You live by it. Anybody thirsty for Christ? Anybody
need Jesus Christ? Anybody? The Lord Jesus. You need a leader? He leadeth
thee. Where? Beside the still water. What is this water? Come unto
me, be a man thirst, come unto me. Christ, the living water,
the living word of God. It's a river. He said that rivers
of water shall flow. It's a river of living water.
A river is a moving thing. A river is a living thing. A
river is always new. You know, a river, unlike a pond,
a pond will get stagnant, all kind of stuff will grow over,
it'll get ugly won't it? And if there's life in it, sometimes
they'll all die. Stagnant water. It'll smell. A river, though, is always new.
Always new. It's always new and fresh. They say water running over rocks
is pure. Well, it's not, but that's a
good illustration. Christ is the rock. The water
is him. It's pure. Living. Living water, moving water, always
new, always running, always flowing. You know, if you're in it, if
you're in it, anybody like to float? Everybody likes to float. Some people don't like to paddle,
but everybody likes to float, don't you? What are you doing
in the water? What are you doing? It's taking you somewhere. You're
on a journey, right? And if you got in that boat,
that ship, in the living water running, that means you want
to go there. You want to. Oh, this water of God's Word
is taking us somewhere. On a journey. The land of promise. Water. The Word of God is this
water. It's alive. It's His voice, as
we tried to say this morning. It's His voice. It gives life
from the dead ears and eyes and heart. It forms life by the Word
of God, by the Spirit of God. A new creature is formed by this,
what I'm trying to do, by God's Word. It satisfies, it washes,
it comforts, it soothes. You know, it's like a river of
water. You know that God's voice is
called the voice as the sound of many. Why? All through the
Scriptures, I heard His voice as the sound of many waters. It may mean for the sheer glory
of it. Anybody go to Niagara Falls? You can't hear each other. That's
good. There's no voice that needs to
be heard. That glory. But many waters also means different
kinds of water, you know. Running water is soothing, isn't
it? You ever thought about that?
Like the Niagara Falls, it's just awesome. It's just fearful.
You think, well, I don't want to be in that. I'd die. But you
sure want to behold it. Is that not a good illustration?
All right, then you've got a river, and it's making a sound, isn't
it? I've often thought I want to live by the water, and I don't
know if it'd be by the ocean or by a river. I don't know.
But anyway, they all have a different sound to them, don't they? That
river running. It's just peaceful. What's it
make you want to do? I'm taking a nap. And there's
the ocean, the waves that come breaking on the shore, and the
little gentle brook. Running over the pebbles, still
small voice. Soothing. You ever gone to sleep
with sounds like that? This Word will make you rest.
And His Word, His voice is the sound of many waters. Awe, fear, soothing, calming. Christ is the Word. His Word,
His voice, Christ. is the Word of God. And you hear
His voice. When you hear Him say, it is
I. Boy, that will soothe your raging
soul, won't it, huh? You see Him. You need Him like
water. When our Lord was crucified,
out of His side came what? Water and blood. Water and blood. Water. Blood and water. Blood
and the Lamb. Blood of the Lamb. Death. Atonement.
Anybody need a Lamb? Anybody need a Lamb? Anybody
need blood? Anybody need pitch? Anybody? Water. Sanctification. Wash you. Anybody want washed?
Anybody like David? Can you say from the psalm, wash
me truly from my iniquity. Cleanse me. Anybody? You feel so filthy. You think, I can't get this thing. I can't get clean. I can't get
clean. Anybody? Anybody? There's one fountain. There is
a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins.
Sinners. What kind of sinner? Any sinner.
All men are sinners. Get in that stream. Remove all their guilty stains.
Water. Water. Water of life. Thirst. You know, when our Lord said
you'll never thirst, that doesn't mean you'll never get thirsty
again. It just means you'll never go
without water. It's a great, wonderful sign
to be thirsty. That's what I'm trying to say.
So Christ in this day, here in our text, Look at it, it says
in verse 37, in that last day, the last day, that great day
of the feast, the last day of the feast. Listen to me, I'm
just not going to be too much longer at all. I've determined
to shorten this up a small. The last day of the feast, there
was a feast held, it's called a feast of tabernacles unto the
Lord, but it had degenerated into the feast of the Jews, like
everything else, like religion today, everywhere. It's supposed
to be under the Lord. It's supposed to be a holy convocation.
That is, it's all supposed to be for the glory of the Lord.
It's all supposed to be around the sacrifices, the burnt offering,
the lamb's lamb. That's what it's all to be about.
It wouldn't be about fun and family. It'd be about worship. It had degenerated into fun and
feasting. Does that sound like religion
today? That's all it's about. Look around. That's all it's
about. And it was going on then. Okay? And thousands of people
were there. And this was the last day of
the feast. Religion, they had been in religion and feasting
and there was much activity and entertainment. You know there
was music being played. You know there was stuff being
sold. They were selling stuff. It was supposed to be worship. And seven days it went on. Okay? Day after day. Same old, same
old. Like Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and
religion all over the world. Same old, same old. Fun and family
and feasting. Fun and family and feasting.
Supposed to be worship. Supposed to be a house of worship
and prayer. Is it here? I hope so. I think so. Went on day after
day and most people came for the food. Most Jews came for
the food and the feasting and the fellowship and the fun. And nearly everybody there went
home the same way they came, lost. But in that last day, the
eighth day, you say there aren't eight days. Yes, there is. When time is no more. that one eternal day. You know
what happened on the eighth day, John? That burnt offering was
made. The high priest took that body
of that lamb, slew that lamb, shed that blood, and the burnt
offering, the lamb's body was burnt on that altar, and he's
supposed to take that blood into the Holy of Holies in the temple.
And offer that blood on the mercy seat. This is that great day. Call it that great day when the
burnt offering was made. When the Lamb's blood was shed.
When the blood was taken into the mercy seat. When the burnt
offering was made for sinners. It's for sinners. Burnt offering. That means a type of... That
person should be in hell. But this sacrifice is taking
that hell for them. Anybody at the center. Anybody
need a burnt offering. That's what this house is supposed
to be about. Nothing else. Right? And our Lord stood on
the eighth day and nobody had burnt an offering. But He stood
up. You know what He's saying? I
am the burnt offering. I am the lamb. I am the sacrifice. If there's a sinner out there,
if any man thirsts, come unto me. Come unto me and drink. On that
eighth day, that great day, typical of Christ and Him crucified.
You know what else will make you thirsty? You know what will
make you thirsty? Salt. You know, our Lord said everybody's
going to be salted with salt. He said that. And every sacrifice
will be salted with fire. Anybody understand that? Anything offered to God, anything
that goes on in religion, if it's not the burnt offering of
Christ, if it's not Christ crucified, burnt offering, salted with fire,
God doesn't accept it. He doesn't accept you. If you're
not a sinner, and the salt of the gospel has not made you thirsty
for Christ, everybody will be salted with salt. Everybody's
going to hear the gospel. Everybody is going to hear it.
Some people, it makes them thirsty. Some people, it makes them thirsty.
That woman at the well, she didn't know what she wanted. She didn't
know what she wants. Day in, day out. Come to the
well. Go home. Go home to that fella. Well, he doesn't work
out. I'll get another fella. Come to the well. Go home. That
fella, he didn't work out. Ain't none of those fellas gonna
work out. Come to the well. Go home. Come to the well. Go
home. Bless God's holy name. Jesus Christ was waiting on her
one day. He said, you're thirsty. I've got water you'll never thirst
again. The water I give you will be
water a whale springing out." She said, Sir? She said, Sir?
Give me this water. Give me this water. She's thirsty. Thirsty for something besides
men and the world. I want that. That sounds good
to me. Oh, man. Anybody guilty? That woman was
guilty. The Lord had to show her that.
Anybody so guilty and ashamed and filthy and troubled? Need
a lamb? Need a covering? Need washed? Anybody so filthy you'd think
there's nothing to wash me but Christ? Anybody? Anybody able
to sing this song? Guilty, vile, and helpless we. Spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement. Can it be? Yes it is. Hallelujah! What a Savior. Anybody? And can it be? How can it be
that God should love a soul like me? Anybody? Anybody? My sin? My sin? Oh, the bliss of this glorious
thought! My sin, not in part, but in whole, is nailed to the
cross, and I bear it no more? Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! He is well with my soul. That's thirst. That's why you come here. That's
why you come to Christ. You'll come to see the festivities
and hear the music because you're supposed to, because it's Sabbath. Our Lord, what does it mean to
come to Christ? Just two more minutes. It's to come to Him
from the heart. It's to call on Him. Whosoever
calls. You ever called somebody? Have
you ever called somebody and you really wanted them to hear
you? Huh? You really wanted to see them?
You needed them for something? I mean, call. You needed them
bad. Have you ever called them? Have you ever called somebody
on the phone? You didn't want them to hear you, but you're
calling them because you're supposed to? Huh? And you hope they don't answer?
And you hang up and say, well, I called you. Anybody but me? It's so easy. But have you ever called somebody?
You're going to keep calling. We used to get a busy signal
back then. I like that. I wish we still had those. These
stupid answering machines. Really. Keep calling. Keep calling. Keep calling. When you call and you need somebody,
what does that mean? You keep calling until they answer again. When the Son of Man, when He
comes, will He find faith like that on earth? Well, keep calling.
I'm not going to let you go, Jacob said to you. Bless me. Blessed. Called, called. People said,
well, he's seeking the Lord. No, he's not. He hasn't found
Him. To come to Christ, to call on
Him from the heart. Oh, the woman at the well, or
the woman with the issue, Lord, help me. I wouldn't go away. That woman, the siren at the
finishing woman, wouldn't go away. I'm just a dog, but I'm
not leaving. Simon, Lord save me, sinking. Bartimaeus, Lord I want to be
clean, I want to see. The leper, I want to be clean.
Came to Christ. They all came to Christ. That's
what it means to come to Christ. What does it mean to come to
Christ? It means to leave everybody and everything to come to Christ. Where is he? He's down there
with a group of people in the synagogue, in the tabernacle,
meeting together, and he said he's going to be there. Thomas? Thomas? He's going to be in Capernaum. Sunday morning at 9.30. He's
going to be there. That's what he said. We're two or three together.
Thirsty? Hungry? Anybody need Christ? Where is He? He's with His people. He's in His synagogue. He's in
His tabernacle. He's where the people are worshiping
God, rejoicing in Him. That's where He is. I'm coming. You know, if somebody's hungry,
really hungry, you don't have to beg him to come to the table. Please drink. You're not thirsty. You lead a horse to water, Brother
Kelly, and he'll drink when he's thirsty. And he'll keep drinking. And he'll keep drinking. Do you ever go quit drinking?
Not if you're alive. You're in. Please come. That's
not what the Lord said. You'll leave everybody and everything
to come to the table. You'll come to the well. You'll
leave your vain pursuits. You'll leave your games. You'll
drop everybody and everything to come to the table because
you're hungry and you're thirsty. That's a fact. You leave your
religion, what does it mean to come to Christ? Everybody that
came here that day was in on the fun, the festivities. If
anybody got tired of that, if there's anybody there who didn't
find the truth, didn't find God, didn't find food for their soul, Christ stood
and said, come to me. Come to me. to leave religion, to leave the
world. To come to Him means to drink. You say, come unto me and drink.
It means take in. It's like rest. It's to sit down,
to lie down, to believe Him, to trust Him, to rest in Him,
to rest in Him. Lord, do you really mean
that? that he that believeth on you hath life, that his sins
will be remitted. Lord, I'm too great a sinner.
No, you're not either. No, you're not, because I'm a
great Savior, he said. No sinner too great that Christ
is not great enough to save. The uttermost. Lord, I sure would
like my sins gone, done. done, to believe on Him, to trust
Him, to rest in Him, to come to Him, to deny yourself and
follow Him. This all started with John baptizing. Remember me talking about that?
And our Lord got into baptism. And I'm going to go back to it
again, okay? And our Lord said this about the Holy Spirit in
John 7. He said, Out of his belly shall come rivers of living water,
springing up unto him. And it went on to say, he's talking
about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost is not yet given, meaning
that Christ hasn't left yet. Christ is still there. Christ
and the Spirit are one. Okay? In John 14, 15, and 16,
our Lord says, expedient that I go away, and I'm going to send
the Holy Spirit down here. And the Holy Spirit takes the
things of Christ and shows them unto people. And they need Christ. Alright? Now Christ said, he
that believeth on me and is baptized shall be saved. Peter at Pentecost said, save
yourselves from this untoward generation. And everyone had
heard him gladly. He said, and you will receive
remission of sin and the Holy Ghost to come upon you. What
does that mean? It means you'll take the things
of Christ and show them unto you, and this book will be a
river of water of Christ. You'll see Christ in everything.
You'll look to Christ. You'll believe Christ. You'll
need Christ. You'll be satisfied with Christ.
You'll be comforted with Christ. You'll bathe in Christ. You'll
drink Christ. He's everything. He's all to
you. He's all your hope, all your
peace, all your comfort, all your joy, all your righteousness,
all your wisdom, all your sanctification, all everything. Water, water,
water, water, water, water, water. Christ is the water. The Holy
Spirit in you keeps bringing these things up. When your sin
comes up, He shows you Christ. And buddy, you love water, you
love Christ, you really, you'll get in that boot. And nobody
will keep you out of it. That Ethiopian eunuch came, he
said, Philip, what hinders me from being baptized? I want to
be baptized. Stop the chair. I'm getting down
in that water. Any man thirst? Come on to me. All right. John,
you come and lead us.