In Proverbs chapter 25 and verse
25 we read as cold waters to a thirsty soul so is good news
from a far country as cold waters to a thirsty soul so is good
news from a far country That's what I'm looking for.
I'm looking for the thirsty. I'm looking for one who's thirsty. A thirsty soul. Are you thirsty? Is your soul
thirsty? It's not easy to find a thirsty
soul these days. A soul that is truly thirsty,
thirsty, thirsting for the things of God. And yet what a dry and thirsty
land is Britain today. What a famine there is. How parched
the land is. How hard the ground has become. In the midst of famine, the land
gets very dry and very hard. What a barren, desolate country
we live in. What barren souls there are within
it who are starving to death if they but knew it. Do you know it? Have you a thirst for those waters
which come from above? Have you a hunger for the food
which comes from heaven? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty and hungry for
righteousness? Do you thirst and hunger for
righteousness? Christ says in Matthew 5, blessed
are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness. But do you? Mankind has a hunger and a thirst
for many things. He has an appetite for many things. He spends his energies satiating
such an appetite, feeding on this and drinking on that. And
when he's fed and when he's drunk, he becomes hungry and thirsty
again, and he has to feed and drink more. and feed and drink
more, our manners and appetite. But how few hunger and thirst
after righteousness. How hard it is to find a truly
thirsty soul today. a soul which hungers and thirsts
after righteousness. Yes, I'm looking for a thirsty
soul. Are you one? Are you thirsty? If so, if you are, then in the
gospel, I've good news for you. As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country. As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so the gospel is good news from a far country. For those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for those who know that before
God what they need And what they lack so acutely is righteousness. For these who are so aware that
they by nature are sinners, are sin through and through, are
black, are vile, are empty. For these who have been given
a hunger and a thirst for that which they haven't got. That which they haven't got.
Righteousness. For those who are thirsty. For
those who are hungry. For those who hunger and thirst
after righteousness. The gospel indeed is good news. as cold waters to a thirsty soul,
it's good news. Good news. Isaiah, in his prophecy
writes, calls out, Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come,
buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which
satisfyeth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness,
Incline your ear and come unto me. Here and your soul shall
live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye,
buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk. without money and without price. Oh, what a call there is in the
gospel to the hungry and the thirsty. Here's wine and milk
for sale for those who have no money. Here's wine and milk for sale
for free. come and buy without money and
without price? Do you thirst? Are you hungry? And yet have you got no money?
Has the Spirit of God given you a thirst for righteousness? Has
he shown you that you have no righteousness? Has he shown you that you have
no money? That you're penniless? That not
only do you lack, but you have nothing to pay with. That you
have nothing to pay for righteousness. You've nothing to pay for that
which you lack. You have no money to buy that
which you lack. You know you're in need. You
know you're hungry and thirsty. You know you're starving and
famished. You know you're dying. You know
that without righteousness, without food and water, you will perish. And you will perish for eternity. You know you're hungry, you know
you're dying, and yet the awful fact is you've no money to pay
for food, and no money to pay for water, and no money to pay
for righteousness. You've nothing. You are nothing
and you have nothing. Well what good news the gospel
is for those who have nothing, for those who have no money.
Come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Why spend money on that which
is not bread? And why labour for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken unto me, says the Lord,
and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me, here, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Oh yes, here's a good news. Here's
good news. Not only for the hungry. Not
only for the thirsty. But also for the penniless. Do you thirst? Do you thirst
after righteousness? Are you penniless? Most people are full. And most
people are rich. And they go about spending their
money on other things. They spend their riches, they
spend their energies, they spend their labour on that which will
ultimately not satisfy. They labour for that which does
not last. They strive at this and strive
at that. But ultimately they're hungry
again. And what they have bought perishes. and they must labour again and
pay again and feed again and they feed and then it's gone.
And yet they're never brought to
that point where they're truly destitute. They hunger but they
buy food and they feed themselves and they satiate themselves on
the things of this world, on the riches of this world, on
the pleasures of this world, on the food and drink that they
find here and now, They labour for that which lasts not. But I'm not talking about such
labour. I'm not talking about this hunger
for earthly things. I'm looking for those who are
hungry and thirsty for that which is for eternity. I'm looking
for those who have spent all they can on this world and who
have found it wanting I'm looking for those who know that nothing
here and now will last, that they need something more, something
lasting. I'm looking for those who know
that they've a soul and that soul needs feeding. I'm looking
for those who know that they need righteousness. I'm looking
for those who are thirsty. with a thirst that cannot be
quenched with anything they find in this world. I'm looking for
those who are near to death and who know they're near to death.
Are you thirsty? I'm looking for those who have
no money, for those who've spent all they have, for those who've
laboured all they can, for those who've done all they can and
know they can do no more. I'm looking for those who know
they have a God to deal with. A God they must stand before
on that day when they enter eternity. A God whom they must give an
account unto. And yet they know that they cannot
pay. They cannot give to Him what
they owe Him. They cannot stand before Him
guiltless. They know they're not innocent.
Are you one of these? Do you know that you're guilty?
Do you know that you're guilty of every charge he can lay before
you? Do you know that you are guilty
of every crime that you could commit? Do you know that you
have a huge fine hanging above your head waiting to be paid?
And do you know that should you look in your pockets for something
with which to pay that your pockets are empty? that you're barren,
that you're empty, that you're penniless. Yes, I'm looking for
the thirsty and I'm looking for the poor. Are you poor? Are you thirsty? Are you dying? Are you in a famine? Have you
done all you can to give to him to whom you owe? Have you worked
all you can to make yourself right? Worked all you can to
work out some sort of righteousness which you can present before
a holy God. Done all you can to make yourself
better. Done all you can to turn over
a new leaf. Done all you can to be right
before God and found that the harder you worked, the worse
you became. The more you spent, the less
you had. Are you thirsty? Is that you? If so, like I say,
I've good news for you. Good news in the gospel. Good
news for the thirsty. I've nothing to say to the full. I've
nothing to say to the rich. If this is of no consequence
to you, If you're happy with yourself, happy with what you
can do, happy with where you go, happy with the pleasures
of this world, think that you're really quite good in yourself,
apathetic to the things of God, apathetic to Christ and his gospel,
I'll have nothing to say to you. Depart. Go, eat, drink, and be
merry. for tomorrow you die. But for
those who stand on the brink of death, for those who know
that they must give an account, for those who know that they
are nothing and have nothing, for those who are thirsty, I
have good news for you, good news in the gospel, good news
As cold waters to a thirsty soul are good news in the gospel for
you. Good news. News of water, news
of food, news of bread aplenty. News of righteousness for those
who have no righteousness. Good news. Good news from a far
country. as cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country. Yes, I've got good news which
comes from a far country. A far country. How often in the scriptures we
read of a far country, of those who went to a far country, of
those who came from a far country, of good news which came from
a far country. We read of Abraham's servant
who was sent to a far country to find a bride for Isaac, to
find a bride for his master's son. He was sent out to find
a bride and he went to a far country in search of a bride.
And he found that bride. He was led to the very one. And
from a far country he brought that bride back to his master
and his master's son. He brought her back to Isaac. And to Isaac he brought back
the perfect bride. He brought back good news. He
was sent out and from a far country he returned with good news for
his master. Good news from a far country. Again we read this morning in
Genesis, the end of Genesis of good news from a far country. When Jacob and his sons dwelt
in Canaan in the midst of famine, when God has sent famine upon
the land of Egypt and upon the lands all around, Canaan included,
and when the people starved when he ate all the food which they
had and drank the remaining supplies of water that they had and when
they knew that if they stayed there without food and water
they would perish. Jacob sent his sons to go down
into Egypt to go down into this land in which he heard that there
is food and water We read in Genesis 41 that the seven years
of dearth began to come according as Joseph had told the Egyptians.
And the dearth was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt
there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt
was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh
said unto all the Egyptians, go unto Joseph, what he saith
to you do. And the famine was over all the
face of the earth. And Joseph opened all the storehouses,
and sold unto the Egyptians, and the famine waxed sore in
the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt
to Joseph for to buy corn, because that the famine was so sore in
all lands. Yes, they went to this far country,
they went down to Egypt. The report had gone out that
there was food to be found in Egypt. And this report came to
Jacob and his sons. Now when Jacob saw that there
was corn in Egypt, Jacob said unto his sons, Why do ye look
one upon another? And he said, Behold, I have heard
that there is corn in Egypt. Get you down thither and buy
for us from thence that we may live and not die. And Joseph's ten brethren went
down to buy corn in Egypt. But Benjamin, Joseph's brother,
Jacob said, not with his brethren, for he said, lest peradventure
mischief before him. And the sons of Israel came to
buy corn among those that came, for the famine was in the land
of Canaan. And Joseph was the governor over
the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the
land. And Joseph's brethren came, and bowed down themselves before
him with their faces to the earth. And Joseph saw his brethren,
and he knew them, but made himself strange unto them, and spake
roughly unto them. And he said unto them, Whence
come ye? And they said, From the land
of Canaan to buy food. And Joseph knew his brethren,
but they knew him not. Yes, the brothers went down to
Egypt. They went to a far country to
buy food, and there was good news in the far country. For
unknown to them, their brother, who they thought they'd killed
when they threw him in the pit, their brother had been exalted
to a great height in Egypt. And their own brother was the
one in Egypt. who with that wisdom God had
given him had stored up the food from the seven years of plenty
to have provision for Egypt and those nations that would come
to them to provide for the hungry, to provide for those who hungered
and thirsted in the days of famine. And in these days of famine,
when Jacob and his sons were near the brink of death, they
went to Egypt, where the report had gone out that here was food
to be bought. And unknown to them, their brother,
risen as it were from the dead, was he who had food to give unto
them. Oh, what good news there was!
in that far country. Joseph, as we know, deals roughly
with his brothers. He sends them back, he calls
for them to bring his younger brother, Benjamin. Oh, the sorrow
this brings to Jacob's heart, who having thought he'd lost
Joseph, his favoured son, longs not to lose Benjamin also. But in the end, Finally, as they
return again unto Joseph, as he's dealt with them, sent them
back home and they come again, Joseph finally reveals who he
is to his brothers. In Genesis chapter 45, we read
that, then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that
stood by him. And he cried, cause every man
to go out from me. And there stood no man with him,
while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept
aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard. And
Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph, doth my father yet
live? And his brethren could not answer
him. for they were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said
unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came
near. And he said, I am Joseph your
brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore be not grieved
nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me here hither. For God
did send me before you to preserve life For these two years have
the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years
in the which there shall neither be hearing nor harvest. And God
sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth
and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Oh, what good news
they found in a far country. that brother they thought they'd
slain God had sent before them to preserve even for them a posterity
in the earth and to save even their lives by a great deliverance. In this of course Joseph is a
wonderful picture of Christ in the gospel, a wonderful picture
for those brethren, those of Christ's household, those who
have given him up for dead, those who once in their hearts slew
him, who once despised him and hated him, who once cast him
out of all their thoughts and affections, who once gave him
up for dead, are those who in time are brought to feel their
need. who in time are brought to thirst
and to hunger after righteousness, and who in time are brought to
seek out that food which is everlasting, and who in time are those who
seek out that which comes from a far country, and who do they
find who satiates their thirst from a far country, Who is it
that has their needs? Who is it that gives them food
and water? Who is it who can spare their
life? Who is it that who can save their
lives by a great deliverance? Only one, only Christ. Only him who was slain. Only
him who died. that he might bring life unto
them who slew him. Only their brother Joseph, a
picture of Christ, only him who they thought they had once slain,
but now they find has risen again, and lives forevermore, and lives
to bring in food and water aplenty, for those who hunger and who
thirst. Him who lives forever to bring
in everlasting righteousness for those who have no righteousness
and who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Oh, there's good
news in a far country. There was good news for the brothers
of Joseph, but there's even better news. for those who come to know
Christ, of whom Joseph is but a type and a figure. Do you know
him? Has Christ come from a far country
bringing bread and water for you? Has he come bringing righteousness
for you who hunger in first after righteousness? Do you hunger
in first after righteousness? You see, the brothers of Joseph
never went down to this far country until they were thirsty, until
they were hungry, until God sent a famine and caused them to discover
that everything they had was worthless and that they stood
on the brink of death. until they were made needy, until
suddenly their lives were in the hands of another, they who
were self-sufficient, they who stood so strong, they who despised
him who they thought was so small and so weak, they who threw their
brother in a pit and left him for dead, suddenly the stronger
made weak, Suddenly the strong are found to starve in a famine. And it was only when they were
there starving on the brink of death that their father sent
them down to a far country in search of food and water. Well,
like I said, I'm looking for the thirsty. Has God brought
a famine into your soul? Or are you still strong and self-sufficient? But when that time comes, when
the famine comes into your soul, and when you thirst, and there's
nothing you can do to satiate the thirst, then you'll seek
out in a far country. Then you'll look to the far country
for one who can provide food and water. Yes, we read of good
news in a far country. In the New Testament, we read
in the coming of Christ, when Christ was born, of those men,
those wise men from the East, from a far country in the East,
who saw a star, and that star stood over a land many miles
away. And they traveled for days, weeks,
months, years, following that star, seeking out Him who would
be born the King of the Jews. seeking out the good news in
a far country. Don't underestimate the distance
that those wise men traveled. Oh what wisdom God gave them
to head for a far country in search of that wonderful news
that God had shown to them should come, that wonderful news of
the birth of a king. Him who should be born King of
the Jews. They traveled for years in search
of this child. And finding their child, they
bowed down in worship. For God showed them that here
was good news. Here was good news sent to a
needy world. Here was good news sent to a
world of sinners. Here was good news sent to a
world of darkness, of light, Sent to shine in the darkness,
good news in a far country. Yes, we often hear in the scriptures
of good news in a far country. And here in our text in Proverbs
25, we read of that good news. As cold water is to the thirsty,
as cold waters is to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a
far country. Good news. And I have good news
for you today from a far country. A far country. Farther than Egypt. Farther than Israel was from
those wise men in the east. Farther than this far country
that we read of in the scriptures. Oh, a far country. I've good
news from a far country you couldn't get further. I've good news for
you from a far country. Which country is this? From heaven. From heaven's glory. From the
heights of heaven. Good news sent down from above. Good news sent from God, not
from man. Good news indeed, sent from Him. from whom you were once estranged,
from whom you, even you, were once, maybe still are, set at
a great distance. Good news from the other side
of that gulf which sinners set between God and man, that great
gulf between God and man, set between them because of the awfulness
of the sin in man's heart. the awful depravity of man by
nature, the awful gulf which came in when man sinned in the
garden, when man turned from his Maker, when man rebelled
against God. Oh, the gulf! Oh, the distance! How far away God is set from
His creatures! How far away God the Father was
set from mankind! because of the awfulness of sin,
and the awful depravity of the human heart, the awful depravity
of my heart, the awful depravity of your heart. Oh, what a distance
we are from God. But I have good news from heaven
above, good news from God, good news from Him who is at a great
distance, Good news from a far country. Good news from Him. How can that be? How can God
have good news for those who are sinners? How can God, who
is holy and just and righteous, have good news for those who
are utterly unrighteous? Good news from those who have
turned their backs on Him. How can there be good news from
Him whom we despise, from Him whom we rejected, from Him whom
we wanted nothing to do with, from Him whom we sinned against,
not just once, but continually, not just one day, but every day,
not just for a moment, but every moment from the day in which
we were born, We sin continually, forcefully, utterly. How can there be good news from
Him? Well, there is, but how? There's good news in the Gospel.
Good news because of that Gospel which makes known what He has
done for those in a far country, for those at a great distance.
for those estranged by sin and death. Good news in that he,
so far away in heaven's glory, so far away in light from those
who sit in darkness, so far away in the glory of holiness and
righteousness from those who sit in sin and depravity. There's
good news from him because he, Even he who loved the world sent
his only begotten Son into that world to save all those who would
leave upon his Son. He from a far country sent his
only begotten Son from the light into the darkness, from heaven
into the earth, from the glories of righteousness into this dark
earth of sin and rebellion. He sent his only begotten son,
who was made a man, born a man, born a babe in Bethlehem, who
grew into a man, who walked a man, a perfect man, who walked a real
man with real men. who walked and lived upon this
earth, who came into this world from a far country, there's good
news. For he came from a far country,
he came from afar, he came nigh to bring those who were once
afar off, nigh unto God. He came from the light into the
darkness, from the day into the night, from the glory into the
dens of iniquity, he came to save, to save sinners. Oh, what do you know of this
Christ? This Joseph, this one who comes with plenty, this one
who comes to save, this one who comes with a great deliverance,
to save those who are in famine, to save those who are hungry,
to save those who are thirsty. What do you know of this one?
Oh, what love he has for his owner, he should come. What amazing
love that he should come into such a world, into such a world
of such people that hated him. with a unbounding hatred. That he should come, well what
love that he should come and be rejected. That he should come
and suffer. What love that he should bear
the rejection, the despising, the unwanted reaction of men. What love that he should come
unto his own when his own received him not. Oh what love. that he should come unto them
that received him not. And yet we read that as many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. Oh, what love that
he should come. But he did come. He came from
a far country. from a far country and he comes
today from a far country. He comes in his gospel. He sent
forth the word of his gospel from a far country and that word
of the gospel comes as cold waters to thirsty souls. It comes declaring
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came into this world, the
Son of God, the one who came to save sinners, the One who
came, the One who died upon a tree, when those who rejected Him nailed
Him to the cross and crucified Him. And in crucifying Him, He
died in the stead of His people. In being crucified, He died in
their place. And he suffered the wrath of
God against their sins. And he took their sins away. And he washed their sins away
with his own blood. And having come and having died,
he washed their sins away utterly, that he might make those thirsty,
those hungry souls, those wicked, sinful, unrighteous souls, that
He might make those souls righteous. He blotted out their every sin,
He washed away their every sin, that He might make them righteous. Yes, He came from a far country
to save sinners. such as you and such as me, he
came and having died, like Joseph as it were, he rose again and
having risen again, again like Joseph is he, he ascended to
a great height, to a glorious height, to a glorious height
of majesty and power and from that height today he sends his
gospel from a far country to those who are hungry and thirsty,
to declare what he has done for the hungry and the thirsty, to
declare what he has done in his death, to bring in righteousness
for the unrighteous, to bring water to the thirsty, to bring
bread to the hungry. Yes, what does he bring for the
thirsty and the hungry? He brings water, water for the
thirsty, Cold water to the thirsty soul. Bread to the hungry soul. The bread of life to the hungry. Righteousness for those who hunger
in first after righteousness. Oh, bread and water like no ordinary
bread and water. This isn't the water you have
on the earth or the bread you eat on the earth. Oh no, he brings
a different kind of water. and a different kind of bread.
What sort of water does he bring? He brings the water of life. Yes, the water of life. As he
said to the woman of Samaria, at Sychar, at Jacob's well, in
the land that Jacob gave unto Joseph, of whom we've read at
Jacob's well, at that well that Jacob made to bring out water
in a thirsty and a dry land. Jesus, thousands of years later,
comes and sits down at this well where he meets a woman, this
Samaritan, this outcast, and he says unto her, whosoever drinketh
of this water from this well shall 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, living water. He sat down at this well on the
sixth hour, and later when he was crucified at the sixth hour,
the world was made dark, And at the ninth hour he cried out,
I thirst. And at the end of the darkness
he cried out, it is finished. And when he hung there dead,
a soldier later came up to him and thrust in his side a spear. And out of his side came forth
blood and water. Out of his side came forth blood
to wash his people clean, and water to speak of that Spirit
of life which brings life, which takes that blood and washes them,
and gives them to drink of the water of life. 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 has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. And out of Christ's side, having
died for his own, came forth blood and water, living waters
for those who thirst, living waters for those who hunger and
thirst after righteousness. Water and blood, water which
brings righteousness, for those who are unrighteousness. Oh,
what a gospel. What good news for the thirsty. Are you thirsty? For his water. Water like cold water to a thirsty
soul. Good news from a far country. Good news. Do you thirst? Do you thirst? Do you thirst
for this water? Then come unto the Lord Jesus,
come unto Christ. Come unto Christ, come up hither. For he says unto all who thirst,
I will give unto him that is a first. Whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. Oh, what
water this is. And all those who have tasted
of this water, tasted of this water from a far country, if
you've ever tasted, if you ever come to taste, you will look,
you will look for that far country, that heavenly country. For here
we have no continuing city, but all those who thirst and who
drink of this water declare plainly that they seek a country, they
desire a better country that isn't heavenly. Wherefore God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for
them a city, a city in a far country, a far country from whence
comes good news. Good news in the gospel, good
news from the thirsty, good news of the water of life. For as
cold water is to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Good news from a far country. Amen.