Would you turn with me to John
chapter 19? Verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Now, there was set a vessel full
of vinegar. And they filled a sponge with
vinegar and put it upon a hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head, and he
gave up the ghost. I have entitled this message,
I Thirst. And I believe I feel a little
bit of what Paul said when he came to the Corinthians, I was
with you in weakness. and in fear and in much trembling. And I feel that as we approach
this saying of our Lord from the cross, the depths of which
we cannot plumb, and it's a saying so holy But I certainly feel unequipped
to deal with this. So I ask that you pray for me
and pray for yourselves that the Lord will be in our midst
and that he will speak from his word. I thirst. This is one of the seven sayings. of the Savior from the cross. Let me give them to you. Father,
forgive them. They know not what they do. Verily I say unto thee, today
thou shalt be with me in paradise. Behold thy son, behold thy mother. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? I thirst. It is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. From the cross he cried, I thirst. Now what is thirst? It's a conscience
absence. It's a conscience or conscious absence. I thirst. Something he didn't have. Oh, the depth of his thirst. Intense physical thirst. He felt a need for water. He was thirsty. Oh, the physical sufferings of
our Lord Jesus Christ. He thirsted for God's favor.
He didn't have it. He thirsted for righteousness. he felt a conscious absence of
that. I thirst. This represents all of his suffering
in the flesh. I thirst. What is the one thing that we know something
of that hell is depicted by. Thirst. Remember what was said
to the rich man? He said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented. in this flame. The Lord Jesus
was suffering the full equivalent of an eternal hell. And his words were, I thirst. This is his suffering in the
flesh. Now in John's day, as well in
our day, there was a heresy being preached called Gnosticism. Perhaps you've heard the word
Gnosticism or Gnostics. It's taken from the Greek word
which means knowledge. And the Gnostics believed that
all matter, all things material, all things that could be touched,
anything contrary to spirit was evil. And therefore, believing
that, they said Christ could not have actually come in the
flesh. He made an appearance. He appeared
as if He were flesh, but He could not come in the flesh. And John was dealing with that
error. As a matter of fact, he said
in the opening pages of John, the Word was made what? Flesh. And dwelt among us. The Word was made flesh. Turn with me for a moment to
1 John chapter 4. John is writing to the church, and he says in
verse 1, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits,
test the spirits, whether they are of God. Because many false
prophets are gone out into the world, and he was talking about
these Gnostics, these Knowing Ones, is what the word means.
These Knowing Ones. Now, these Knowing Ones, before
I go on reading, they believed that all matter, everything that
could be touched, including our flesh, anything that is not just
spirit, is evil, therefore Christ could not have possibly come
in the flesh. And salvation was not something in you, not something
you've... it's in your knowledge. That's
why they're called the knowing ones. The evidence that God has
done something for you is found in what you know. If you know
this, and if you know this, and you know this, you must be saved.
Salvation in knowledge. Now let's go on reading. Many
false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. See that? Is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is the spirit of antichrist. Where have you heard that it
should come? And even now, already, it's in the world. Now, here
we have a summary of all truth. Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. Now, that means He was before
He came. He's the eternal God. He came
in the flesh and He did what He came to do. That is the summary
of the gospel and the false prophet, the Gnostic, was against that. As I said,
the Gnostics believed that salvation was in knowledge, what you knew.
They understood John 8, 32 like this. You shall know the truth
and your knowledge of the truth will make you free. But that's
not what the Bible says. It says, you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. It's not your knowledge
of the truth that will make you free. Do you find any freedom
or assurance in your knowledge? I sure don't. You see, the Gnostics
did not understand it's not what you know, but who you're in.
It's not what you know, but who knows you. My assurance is not
in what I know. It's in who knows me. Now, you'll know the truth, but
it's not your knowledge of the truth that will set you free.
It's the truth himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, that sets you free. Paul said in Galatians 4, 9,
now that you've known God or rather are known of God. Oh, I want him to know me, don't
you? What about that crowd he said to depart from me? I never
knew you. Salvation is in his knowledge
of me. Now, the Gnostics said Christ
could not have come in the flesh. He couldn't have suffered in
the flesh. That would make Him evil. If He came in the flesh,
that would make Him evil. And we're far too concerned about
His glory and protecting Him to make Him evil. Therefore,
He couldn't have come in the flesh. They took this presupposition
that was wrong. And they based their doctrine
on that. He couldn't have come in the flesh. That would make
Him evil. Now that is Just the recirculation
of an old truth. It's no different than folks
today saying Christ couldn't have actually been made sin.
Now, he had sin charged to him and he was punished for it, but
he couldn't have actually been made sin because that would make
him evil. Far be it from us to do that.
We're too concerned for his glory to make him evil. That's heresy. That's heresy. That's the error
of Gnosticism. The Lord said, I thirst. And that represents everything
He experienced in His suffering in the flesh. Now, the Lord Jesus
Christ is 100% God and He is 100% flesh. That's mysterious,
isn't it? It's glorious. It's not something we can really
wrap our minds around. It's something we don't so much
understand, but we believe. Now, one of the things about
Gnosticism, they couldn't believe something, and they wouldn't
believe something they couldn't understand. You know, everything
I believe, I don't understand. Not fully comprehend. We believe
what God says in His Word. That's what faith is. It's believing
what God says in His Word. It's beyond comprehension. But
we believe, don't we? We believe. In the flesh, the Lord Jesus
said, I thirst. And remember, this means more
than the physical thirst, although who can imagine what painful
physical thirst he went through? But this is a conscious absence. I thirst for God's favor and
I don't have it. I don't have it. He was abandoned. He was alone. He was isolated. I thirst for righteousness. At this time when He was made
sin, He had none. This was a conscious absence. This was all of His sufferings
in the flesh. I thirst. Now look back up at
verse 28 of John chapter 19. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished. You know, our Lord, the wrath
of God coming down on Him, who knows the depth of what this
means? I thirst, and yet He knew all
things. He knew all things. He was in control of everything
at this time. I mean, the soldiers were only
fulfilling what He said would be done. When they gave Him that
vinegar to drink, they were only fulfilling what He said would
be done. While He was in such agony, He was also in complete
control. Oh, the glory of Jesus Christ! You know, when I was listening
to Clare read that passage of Scripture from John Genesis 45
about Joseph, he said, tell my father of all my glory. I thought about the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this thought came to my mind.
If he's glorified, I don't care what happens to me. I really
don't. As God is my witness, if Jesus
Christ is glorified, everything's fine. Whatever happens to me,
whatever happens to you, everything's fine if Jesus Christ is glorified. Does that come out of your heart?
Do you know anything about that? The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, after this, Jesus, knowing
that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. Now, there was a vessel full
of vinegar. Now, we read from Psalm 69 that
this is what would take place. Now, they didn't know that. They
didn't know they were fulfilling the Scriptures. This was cruel.
What if somebody said, I'm thirsty, I'm desperate for thirst, and
you gave them vinegar? Why, that is heartless cruelty. They didn't do this to quench
his thirst. They did this out of pure meanness and cruelty
and wickedness. They gave him vinegar to drink.
In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink and gall for my meat. This tells us what was going
on. I mean, these were mean-spirited, wicked and cruel people. And
they gave him vinegar to drink. Verse 29, Now there was set a
vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar,
and put it upon a hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished. Now in him saying, I thirst,
first of all, we see the flesh, the real humanity, of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, when He was raised
from the dead, He was still a human being. You remember how He said,
A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see Me to have. And even
right now, as I speak, in the heaven of heavens, there is a
man flesh and bones, seated at the right hand of the Father,
ruling and reigning, interceding for His people, the Man Christ
Jesus. He, God, became what He was not,
man, and never ceased to be what He was, God. The God-Man Christ
Jesus, you see for him to be my savior, because I'm flesh,
he had to become flesh. He had to become a real man. He was, and he is the man, Christ
Jesus. We see that in this statement,
I thirst. Now, secondly, In this statement,
I thirst, I see the absolute and complete wickedness of me
and you. Man, that's what I see in this.
Now, if you want to look at what you're really like, if you want
to know the truth about yourself, don't look within. Don't look
within. You say, well, I see all kinds
of bad stuff. It's a whole lot worse than you think. Don't look
within. Look to the cross and see what
was done there. And that's what you would be
doing apart from God keeping you from it. There is no sin. There is no act of cruelty. There
is no wickedness that you and I will not commit. How cruel, how inhumane to take
vinegar and give it to somebody in their thirst, their desperate
thirst and give them vinegar. I wouldn't do that. Yes, you
would. Yes, you would. That's God's
testimony concerning me and you. If you want to find out what
you're like, what you really are, the real you, you look at
the cross, that's the real you. Now, you think, well, I haven't
committed certain sins. The only reason you haven't committed
them is you haven't had the opportunity. If you were tempted, you do it. That's why we better pray, Lord,
lead me not into temptation, because I know if I'm tempted,
I'll fall. Let me not even be tempted, but know this about
yourself. Let me know this about myself. And that is seen in them giving
the vinegar to our Lord to drink. I thirst. Now, he made this statement
right after he had said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? That's another one of those sayings
of our Lord from the cross. And when I repeat the sayings
of the Lord from the cross, that's why I feel fear and trembling.
These are the Lord's words. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Now, David said, I've never seen
the righteous forsaken. Why did God forsake him? Because
he was made to be sin. That's much more horrible than
you and I can ever imagine. He was made to be sin. He felt nothing but separation,
isolation, his father's awful frown, his father's wrath. My sin became his. And he felt a conscious absence
of righteousness. He was made sin so that he said
from the cross, behold, I am become vile. Now, I don't become vile. I am vile. I never began to be
vile. I was born that way. But from
the cross, he cried out, I am become vile. Now somebody says,
where are you getting at? Well, turn with me to the book
of lamentations right after the book of Jeremiah. Lamentations. Look at verse 12. Is it nothing to you? all ye
that pass by behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto
my sorrow which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted
me in the day of his great his fierce anger now who is that
speaking you say Jeremiah yeah it's Jeremiah but the first application
this this is the words of the Lord from the cross in the same
Look, he says, I am the man that has seen affliction. The Lord
saw affliction like nobody else did. Now. Look in verse 11. Look at the last phrase of verse
11. He says, oh Lord, see, oh Lord,
and consider for I am become vile. Now, no man could ever say that.
We already were vile. We don't become vile. But on
Calvary's tree, as he was made sin, he was made what I am, he
said, I am become vile. You see, when God poured his
wrath on him, it's because he had become vile. All that I am,
he was made to be. It actually became his. You're
sitting there and looking at lamentations. Verse 14. The yoke
of my transgressions is bound by His hand. They are wreathed
and come upon my neck. He hath made my strength to fall.
The Lord hath delivered me into their hands from whence I am
not able to rise up." That's what he says from the cross.
But notice he says, the yoke of my transgressions. He doesn't
say the yoke of Todd's transgressions that were counted to me. He says
the yoke of my transgressions. They were When he suffered God's
wrath, it's because he deserved it. Because he had become vile
and obnoxious to God. What I am, he was made to be. Like I said, I don't understand
all that. None of us can. But we can believe it. Behold,
I am become vile. Have you ever felt vile? Oh, what a horrible feeling that
is. You feel like you're nothing
but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores and all that evil is. You
are. He was made to feel all of that. Turn to Psalm 40. Psalm 40. First, let's see who
is speaking. I know it's a Psalm of David. But we read in verse 6, sacrifice
and offering, thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou opened,
burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then
said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of
me. I delight to do thy will, O God. Yea, thy law is within
my heart. And we know those are directly
the words of the Lord Jesus. This is quoted in Hebrews chapter
10. But look what he says in verse 11. Withhold not Thou Thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let Thy lovingkindness and Thy
truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have compassed
me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste to help." You see, my sin, it wasn't just
charged to Him. where He bore the punishment
of it. It became His. And He felt all the vileness
and the defilement of my sin. But here's the gospel. Just as truly as He was made
sin for me, He became what I am I am made the very righteousness
of God. Did you hear that? Everybody he died for, they are
made the very righteousness of God in him. So right now, I say this with
fear and trembling. But I say this believing it.
Right now, you're looking at me. You're looking at the very
righteousness of God. I believe that. That's the hope
of the gospel. Because he said, I thirst. I shall never have to thirst. He bore the full equivalent of
an eternal hell, what that rich man suffered. And now because
he did, I'll never have to. It's what's called substitution. The very heart and soul of the
gospel. I thirst. Now would you turn
with me to John chapter 4. Verse 4, And he must needs go through
Samaria. Now, let me tell you something
about my Lord. The only reason he must needs do anything is
he must needs do his father's will. That's why he must need
to go through Samaria. You see, one of his elect is
in Samaria, and he's going after her. He must need to go through
Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of brown that Jacob
gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus
therefore being wearied with his journey. He's in the flesh,
isn't he? Tired. Thirsty. Weary with his journey, set thus
on the well, and it was about the six hour, it was about noon.
High noon. Then cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Now, why was she coming at noon?
Because she didn't want to come when everybody else came. They
came in the morning and they probably, there she is. There
she is. We know that this woman was an
immoral woman. She had had five different husbands and she was
cohabiting with somebody at the time. Our Lord tells that. Let's go on reading. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water and Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away
unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If you knew The gift of God. The free gift. No strings attached. The free gift of God. And who it is that saith to thee,
give me to drink, thou would have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water. you'd ask. That's what you do. If you knew, you'd ask. And if
you'd ask, he'd give. Have you asked? If you knew,
you'd ask. And if you ask, he gives. Verse 11, The woman saith unto
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.
From whence then hast thou that living water? She still didn't
know what he was talking about, poor lady. Art thou greater than
our father Jacob? Well, she didn't know who she
was talking to, did she? Are you greater than Jacob? Oh, this
is the God of Jacob she's speaking to. Are you greater than our father
Jacob who gave us this well and drank thereof himself and his
children, his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto
her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Now there's so much in that. Whatever water you drink of that
comes from this world, you'll thirst again. what you want and
thirst for and crave, what you think you can't be satisfied
with until you have it. When you get it, you'll thirst
again. Now you can just write that down.
You will thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. Now, do you hear what our Lord
says? If you drink of the water I give you, you'll never thirst. You will be satisfied. Now, what is this water that
he gives? Well, it's found in our text.
What did he say directly after he said, I thirst? What did he
say? It is finished. It is accomplished. It is completed. Now here's what
satisfies my thirst. When Jesus Christ said, It is
finished. My salvation was finished. Outside of my experience. Outside
of my feelings. Outside of my works. It is finished. And this is the only thing that
satisfies my conscience. The fact that He was made sin. It's not as if He were made sin.
He was made sin. God's wrath came upon him. And
his very righteousness is mine so that I'm the righteousness
of God. That's the only thing that satisfies my conscience.
And it does. I'm satisfied with this. I'm
not thirsting for anything else. Somebody says, there must be
something more. You ain't heard. It is finished. And I thirst for nothing else. Here's what satisfies my thirst.
In Him, listen to the scripture, Colossians 2, 9 and 10, in Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead in a body, in the
flesh, and you are complete. You lack nothing. You are full
in Him. Our Lord said in John 6, 35,
He that believeth on Me shall never thirst. Now when He said,
I thirst, it's not only a reference to His physical sufferings, but
He's also saying as the Son, I thirst for God. I thirst for
God. You know, not everybody thirsts
for God. You know, I've heard people say, everybody's got a
hole in their heart that can't be filled. They all thirst for
God. No, they don't. Men are perfectly satisfied to never
know God. But there are some who thirst
for God. And this is a blessed thing. Blessed are they who hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Remember, it's a conscience absence.
For they shall be filled. Now, I want to close by giving
you these promises to thirsting souls. Our Lord said in John
7, verse 37, If any man thirst, let him come to Me and drink. In Revelation 21.6, He says,
I'll give to him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water
of life freely. Revelation 22.17 says, 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. Let me tell you how broad God's
mercy is. It's described by this word.
whosoever. Are you a whosoever? Does that
describe you? Then you're called upon to come
and take of the water of life freely. Isaiah 55, this is our
last scripture. Isaiah 55. Verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. That has this conscious absence,
this need. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. You thirst for righteousness
because you know you have none in yourself. You thirst for acceptance
because you know you have none in yourself. You thirst for favor.
You thirst for mercy. You thirst for grace. Oh, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money,
you have absolutely nothing to recommend you. Come ye buy and
eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfies not? You work, and you work, and you
work, and you're never satisfied. Hearken diligent unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to
me. Here in your soul shall live,
and I'll make an everlasting covenant with you. even the sure
mercies of David. Now, what are these sure mercies
of David? Do you remember David's life words? Although my house
be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. There's the sure mercies
of David. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire, though he make it fit not to grow. That's the only hope any sinner
has, this everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, ensure. Are you thirsty? Come. Come. Because he said, I thirst. You'll never have to. What a gospel. Let's pray.