I'm back to John chapter 7. John chapter 7. Our Lord is speaking here in this chapter
with the Pharisees and some of the people and conversation going
back and forth. And he stands up and says in
verse 37, the Lord stood, after all this going back and
forth, back and forth, he stood and he cried. There in that verse
37, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried. He made it. very easy for them to hear him.
He didn't speak in just a low, monotone voice. He cried. After
all this commotion and, like I said, going back and forth,
he stood and he cried, If any man thirst, let him come to me. That would be like us standing
in here and arguing back and forth, going back and forth,
and then the Lord stands down and it's like he said, If any
man thirsts, let him come to me." The rest of you are just
going home. If you're thirsty, if you're
thirsty, come to me. Christ has come to me, who is
the water of life. I was thinking about how uniquely,
and to me, mysteriously, our bodies let us know, our brain,
the chemicals in our brain let us know that we're thirsty. The youngest child in this room
knows when it's thirsty. Now, that child may not be able
to just say, I am thirsty. But I mean from the time it's
born, that child starts to cry for
milk. As it gets a little older, it
wants water. It's thirsty. And they can't explain to you
how it became that way or how they became thirsty. They just
know this. They're thirsty. You know, there's a lot of things
I don't know. I would not call myself a theologian,
even though I do study the scriptures. But I know this, when I'm thirsty,
I want a drink. And I'm not going to try to go
through the scientific part of, why am I thirsty? How did I get,
you know, I just know this, I'm thirsty. And after all this commotion
going on, our Lord stands up and said, if any man is thirsty, thirsty, you're craving. When
I get thirsty, my mouth gets dry. I get this dry feeling in
my mouth. And I want water. And nothing
quenches a thirst like water. I drink pop, you know, sodas
and stuff, but I'm telling you this, they do not quench. They have a taste to it that
I like, but they do not quench my thirst like the water that
God has given. God has given us something to
quench our thirst. Water. And God has given us something
to quench that soul thirst that he creates. This is not natural. Our Lord is not speaking of a
natural thirst. He's speaking here of a spiritual
thirst. And he says if any man thirsts,
any man craves after God, any man desires God, any man desires
righteousness, in man's hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let him go to church. No, let
him come to me. Someone was telling me about
a certain person who said, that person needs to get back in church.
I said, no, that person needs Christ. Our greatest need is Christ.
He's the only one who can quench our real thirst. Like I said,
you know when you're thirsty. You know, our Lord uses terms
that we can understand. When He says thirst, I understand
what that means. I understand what it means to
thirst after water. I need it. I have to have it. I look for
it. When I'm thirsty, I look for
it. When I'm thirsty, that's the
only thing that's on my mind until I get a glass of water.
And that's the kind of thirst that God creates in the heart
of a sinner when He saves that sinner. We actually have a real
hunger, a real craving after the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like
we crave that water. Spiritually, we crave Christ.
We crave God. We crave to know Him. We desire
to know Him. That's what it is to thirst.
That's what it is to thirst after Christ. That's what it is to
thirst after righteousness. That's what it is to thirst after
forgiveness. I want you to turn over in Mark.
I just saw this because I've been studying on the last part
of Matthew 7 there. But over in Mark, over here in
Mark chapter 15. Mark chapter 15, over in Matthew chapter 7 it
says, Joseph of Arimathea begged the body of Christ. He went to
Pilate and he begged for that body. That's the body of his
Lord. That's the body of his Master. He wanted that body. He begged
it over there in Matthew 27. Now look here in In the 43, Mark 15, 43, Joseph
of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom
of God, came and went in boldly unto Pilate, and he craved, that
word just jumped out at me, he craved the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when I read that, I thought,
is that, is that me? To crave, to actually crave the
Lord Jesus Christ. To actually crave His presence. To crave to have Him. That's what it is, the thirst.
And our Lord stood up in the midst of that crowd. The Pharisees
there, the common people were there. And they all go back and
forth about this man and who he is. You know, the Lord said
in verse 28, you both know me, and you know whence I am, and
I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom
you know not, but I know him, for I am from him, and he has
sent me. He told them who he was. But
some believed, and some believed not, and some said this is the
Christ, and others. But he simplified this. He simplified
this whole... Here is simple preaching, and
this is where I must learn to stay. If any man thirsts, let him come to me. Let him come
to me. Everything God has for us is
in his Son, Jesus Christ. He's the bread of life. He is
the water of life. He is life, he is light, he is
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. Everything God has
for a thirsty sinner is in his Son. And he says, come to me,
come to me. And you say, what is it? I want to come to him. Is there
anybody here that wants to come to him? I do. You do. I know
there are people here that want to come to him. That's why you're
here this morning. How do I come to him? Look in
verse 38. He that believeth on me. We come to him by faith. We do
not physically get up and come to an altar here. Coming to Christ
has nothing to do with my physical body. It has to do with my heart. We worship Him in spirit. The
Scripture teaches us this. We worship Him in spirit and
in truth. We come to Him by faith. We come
to Him in our hearts. We come to Him and we don't have
to move a muscle. Not even a muscle. But our hearts
go out to Him. Like that lady in the Song of
Solomon, have you seen him? Have you seen him whom my soul
loves? That's the heart. That's the
affections. It's the affections going out
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our affections right now are
going out to something or someone. I guarantee you. It's our affections, our heart
going out to him. It says over in Colossians chapter
3, set your mind, set your affection on things above where our Lord
sits at God's right hand. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water, living water. He that trusts me completely
for salvation Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
And he's probably referring here to Isaiah 5811. And thou shalt
be like a watered garden. Do you know that's what's happening
this morning? God is watering his garden. You are the garden. You who believe
the gospel, you're his garden. He says over in the Song of Solomon
again, I have come into my garden. And this morning he's watering
his garden. And thou shalt be like a watered
garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not,
because they're not natural waters. They're not natural. When he said, let him come to
me and drink, he's talking about believing on him. He's talking
about living on him by faith. And this, listen, This is not
something we do one time. Do we drink natural water one
time? You know, I have come to realize that everything in the
natural realm has a spiritual application. There's something spiritual about
it. I need this water. I drink this water daily. Faith
is not a one-time act. Faith is a lifelong act. Repentance
is not a one-time act. Repentance is a lifelong act. Let Him come and drink. Believing
on Him. Living on Him. And this is our
daily experience. When I say, does any man thirst? I'm not talking to just someone
that's never believed. I'm talking to the church. Are
you thirsty this morning? Did you come thirsty? Then drink,
drink. Let him come to me and drink. Our troubles come from drinking
too much of this flesh. That's when a lot of our troubles,
I can say that most of my troubles and trials come from me. So I'm saying it's our troubles
and trials, but I tell you what, I do real well bringing my own. I bring my own, by drinking too
much of this flesh. And this water, this natural
water, the natural things we thirst after by nature, cannot
satisfy. Oh, I wish I could get that,
especially to the younger people. They don't satisfy. They cannot
create true satisfaction, true happiness, true joy. They're
all temporary. They can create a little temporary
joy, a little temporary happiness. There's pleasure in sin for a
season. But what? We have four seasons. They come
and they go. They come and they go. Only Christ, only the Lord Jesus
Christ can truly quench the thirst of the soul. that God has created. That God has given a new heart,
as I read over in Ezekiel 36, a new spirit. And that new heart,
that new man, that new creation, thirsts and hungers after Christ. And the reason I know that, partly,
is this in verse 39. For this spake he of the Spirit,
that is, the Holy Spirit, which they That belief on him should
receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus
was not yet glorified. But the Holy Spirit creates that
thirst. What is it that makes you think
of the Lord Jesus Christ during the day? I mean, you really have
serious thoughts of Him. Like yesterday, I was humming
this song we sang. Held thou once despised Jesus.
I was going all day with that song. Who is it that causes us
to sing psalms and hymns and these melodies like this in our
soul? I mean, they mean something.
Who is it that causes us to think upon Christ? You know, you're
just going throughout the day and then you have thoughts of
Him. It's the Holy Spirit. It's the Spirit of God that's
in you. If He did not indwell us, we would never think of Him.
If He did not create within us that new nature and dwell within
us, we would never thirst after Christ. No, we wouldn't. We'd
be religious. We'd be going somewhere, I guarantee
you. We'd still be religious, but we'd not have this thirsting,
this craving after Him. Not at all. Then it says here
in verse 40, many of the people, therefore, when they heard this
saying, said, of a truth, this is the prophet. This is that
prophet that should come. Many of the common people believed
that he was a prophet or that prophet that was spoken of in
Deuteronomy 18. But listen, but they never received
him as the prophet. It's one thing to say this is
the Christ. And another thing, to receive
Christ. Words are cheap. Words are cheap. It's what we
do that's real. Others said, this is the Christ. But some said, shall Christ come
out of Galilee? You see, Satan is always present,
casting those doubts. Shall he come out of Galilee,
hath not the scripture said? Is that not what Satan did with
Eve? Did he not use the word of God?
Did he say, hath not God said? Hath not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of
Bethlehem where David was? Yes, it says that. They were well versed in the
scriptures. They knew that he would be of the seed of David,
that the Christ would be of the seed of David. They knew that
he would come out of Bethlehem. And he did all this. But they still didn't know him.
They did not know him. They knew, listen, they knew
historical facts about him. But they didn't know him. It's
good to know the scriptures. It's good to know the word of
God. They testify of the Lord Jesus Christ. But an intellectual
knowledge only without a work of grace, without the work of
the Holy Spirit in you, will only add to your condemnation.
One writer said this. This is good. and our lives molded by God's
word, we are no better off than a starving man with a cookbook
in his hand. Let me read that again. Unless our hearts are affected
and our lives molded by God's word, we are no better off than
a starving man with a cookbook in his hand. They knew the facts. They knew. But when he stood before them,
he said, you both know me. You know me. You know whence
I am. But they wouldn't have it. Would not have it. They couldn't get past his poverty.
They couldn't get past his appearance. He was just a common looking
man. You know, this can't be God's Son. God's Son wouldn't
look like this. You know, like the one over in
the Song of Solomon, the description she gives of Him. Well, that
is Him! You know, the real beauty of
a person is not the skin. The real true beauty of a person
is what's in here. It's who that person is. Christ's true beauty is this.
He's God. He is the living God. God must
do a work of grace in us as well as for us, or we will never have
any thirst for Him. So there was a division among
the people because of Him, and there always will be. Over in
Matthew chapter 10, verse 34 and 35, let me read it to you.
He says, Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth.
You think I came here to try and get everybody to live together
peacefully and stop fighting and shooting each other and all
that goes on in this world? I tell you, no. No, nay. But rather division. For from henceforth there shall
be five in one house divided. Three against two, two against
three. Why do they divide it over? who he is and what he did, who
he did it for, where he is now, that's what they're divided over. The gospel will divide sheep
and goats. It will divide. The believer
cannot walk with the ungodly. The Word of God says, except
two agree, how shall they walk together? Our Lord tells us to count the
cost. Count the cost. You will have to say goodbye
to some earthly friends that you grew up with. If God saves you and does not
save that one, now you can talk about whether or fishing or whatever
it is you can talk about, ball games or whatever. You know,
you can only talk about that for so long before something
else comes up. Joseph of Arimathea, it says
in another place, was a secret disciple. But you can only stay
that way so long because you're going to be called out. When
our Lord was crucified, He was secret no more. He walked into
Pilate and craved and begged the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he took that body and he bought some fine linen. And I
mean he prepared and took care of that body. It was fit for
the burial of a king. It's going to come out. You know
when that woman with the issue of blood, she came behind him. in the crowd and touched the
border of his garment, she kept saying within herself, if I can
but touch the hem of his garment, I will be made whole. And she
did, and he was made whole. And you know, if she could have,
she would have slipped right back through that crowd and went
back home. But our Lord stopped, turned around and said, who touched
me? I bet she started going like,
I bet she started trembling. She's in the presence of her
Lord. And she said, I touched you. You can only be secret for a
little while. You know, there's others like Peter who just bold,
you know, come out. But there's people whom the Lord
saves that are timid. That's their personality. I mean,
that's their makeup. But somewhere along the way,
they're going to confess Christ. It's going to come out. So there was a division. There
was a division over him. You know, the Scripture says,
Woe unto you when all men speak well of you. Being popular with the world
is a bad sign for someone who calls himself a believer. It
says in 1 Corinthians 11, 19, For there must be also factions
among you that they that are approved may be made manifest
among you." He said there must be factions because there's always
tares among the wheat. I'm telling you what, I'm not
going to assume that everyone here believes the gospel. I assure
you that's not so. I assure you it's not so. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. Listen, men are powerless before
the decrees of God. His hour had not yet come, and
no one was going to touch him. No one. They desired to take
him, but they couldn't do it. They couldn't touch him. Well,
that's so much for human will, isn't it? So much for human will. It cannot go beyond God's decrees. Pilate said, being full of himself,
he said, don't you know that I have power to crucify you and
power to let you go? And our Lord said to him, you
have no power at all except to be given you from above. You
can't do anything to me unless my Father gives it to you. No
one has power over us except it be given from above. Then
came the officers. These are the ones who are supposed
to have the power. These are the ones who are supposed to
be able to walk in and just take it. Then came the officers to the
chief priest and the Pharisees, and they said unto them, Why
have you not brought him? Why do you not have him? Men spend their lives asking
why. Listen. Men spend their lives
asking why were we not able to do that? Why were we not able
to do this? Why have great leaders attempted
to do something and it failed? Why? Because of the will and
power and purpose of God. That's why. Why have you not
brought Him? Because it's not God's will for
you to bring Him at this time. God rules the heavens and the
earth, not men. When God acts, none can stay
His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou? But here's the good news of the
gospel. This God is our God. This God is our God. And the
officers answered, answering, never man spake like this man. No man spake like this man because
his words were spirit and life. That's what he said. He said,
my words are spirit and they are life. Power goes with what he says.
They were standing there listening to him speak. And they were astounded. I mean,
the power of His Word. This man speaks with authority.
When He said to the impotent man, rise up and walk by the
power of that Word. You see, I'm not concerned this morning
that I'm not going to talk someone into a profession here. Because
I'm not going to convince someone to accept Jesus as their personal
Savior. If God sends His Word in power,
You will come. Satan and all of his, those evil
angels that all fell with him, all of them together cannot keep
a sinner away from Christ when he sends his word in power. He said to that impotent man,
rise up and walk. And by the power of that word,
he rose up and walked and believed that he could. You know why you believe the
gospel? Because when the Lord said, Believe, you believed. The power of that word gave you
faith. The work of the Holy Spirit bringing
the gospel to you in power. You could not help but believe.
While the person sitting beside of you got up and just went on
home. It was just another service. But
it was not to you. I can remember distinctly sitting
down and when I heard Henry preach on television, I remember distinctly
the difference of that message and hearing that message and
all the other messages I'd ever heard. The gospel, when it comes in
power, will absolutely change a person's life. They'll be going
this way and they'll turn 180 degrees and go the opposite direction. That's the power of His Word.
I'm not trying to keep you coming. I'm not trying to get you to
do things. I'm not trying to keep you busy, because if His
Word, if He does not speak by His Word in power, you're just
going to be a problem. You're just going to be a problem.
It's like trying to get two cats fighting. I tell you what though, if He speaks
in power, There'll be a change, there'll be a change that's unbelievable. Unbelievable. Then after them,
the Pharisees. Are you also deceived? Are you
deceived? Have any of the rulers or of
the Pharisees believed on him? No. As it is, no, they haven't. They
haven't. Not many wise. Not many noble,
not many mighty are called. God has chosen the foolish things,
the common things, what the world calls foolishness, God has chosen. But this people who knoweth not
the law, he says, are cursed. This common people, the mob,
this mob of common people are lawless, unlike us, unlike us
who have high moral standards and keep the law. There's nothing,
to me there's nothing more obnoxious than self-righteousness. Is there?
God said over in the Old Testament, you are a smoke in my nose. Self-righteousness
is like smoke in your face. Burns your eyes, burns your nose.
It's obnoxious. The greatest stench that God smells, if I can say
it like this. is self-righteousness. That's the greatest teach. Now,
Nicodemus saith unto him, he that came to Jesus by night,
being one of them, Doth our law judge any man before it hear
him, and know what he doeth? Well, actually it does. Their
law does. Man's law does. God's law doesn't. But man does. And every man Went
into his own house. The feast was over. Everyone went home. But it doesn't say that any of
them followed him. Let that not be said this morning.
If anyone thirsts, come to him. Again. Again and again and again. Every time you thirst, you come
to him. You come to Him. I pray that God would keep us
from hearing the gospel and then just walking away, going to our
own homes, but that He would enable us to drink of Him, that
He would create, I would to God that He'd create a real thirst
for Him in my heart daily, daily. Yes, I believe the gospel. I
heard the gospels many years ago, believed. But I want to drink of him today
just like I did then. In fact, I want to drink, I pray
that God enable me to drink more often, more often.