The message of the Holy Spirit
is not go and do, but come. The message of the Bride, the
Church, is not go and do, it's come. Come and welcome. to the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. That one who hears, what does
he have to say? Come. That one who is thirsty, what
is he directed to do? Come. Whosoever will. Oh, I like that. I'm one of them. I am a whosoever. Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. You don't have to find a reason
in you to take it. Would it be something? Wouldn't
it be a reason to praise God if you and I actually come to
the Lord Jesus Christ even now? Wouldn't that be a blessing?
Would you turn to John chapter 7, verse 37. In that last day, that great
day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Jesus stood and cried. Now that catches my attention. We read in another place He shall
not cry, nor strive, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
streets. But here he stands up and cries
and lifts up his voice so as to be heard. He means to be heard. And he did this on the last day,
that great day of the Feast of Tabernacles that had been going
on for a week. And our Lord was looking at people
who were just as confused and just as empty at the end of this
festival as they were when they began. Now, what was going on at this
time was certainly a time of confusion. Look in verse 25 of
John chapter 7. Then said some of them, of Jerusalem,
is not this he whom they seek to kill? But, lo, he speaketh
boldly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know, indeed,
that this is the very Christ? That's a powerful statement,
isn't it? Howbeit we know this man which he is, but when Christ
cometh, no man knows which he is, and that's contradictory.
They say, he's the Christ. And they turn around and they
say, we know where he's from and nobody knows where Christ
is from. That was contradiction. It was erroneous because the
scriptures tell where Christ would come from. He would come
from Bethlehem. Verse 28, Then cried Jesus in
the temple as he talked, saying, You both know me, and you know
whence I am. And I have not come of myself,
but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. Now our Lord
is telling them, you know me. You know I'm of God. You know
when I preach the gospel, I really believe this. When I preach the
gospel, when I preach the truth, I believe that deep down, everybody
who's listening knows it's the truth. They may not like it,
but they know this is the truth. Everybody knows that. And our
Lord says to these people, you know Whence I am. You both know
me, and you know where I am. Whence I am. And I'm not come
of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. You
know I'm true, but you don't know me. You don't know me. But I know him, verse 29, for
I am from him, and he has sent me. Then they sought to take
him, to arrest him, but no man laid hands on him, because his
hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed
on him and said, when Christ cometh, will he do more miracles
than these which this man hath done? The Pharisees heard that
the people murmured such things concerning him. They were jealous.
And the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take
him and said, Jesus unto them, yet a little while I am with
you. And then I go unto him that seeth me. You shall seek me and
shall not find me. And where I am, thither you cannot
come. Then said the Jews among themselves,
whither will he go that we shall not find him? Will he go and
be dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? What
manner of saying is this that he said, you shall seek me and
shall not find me? And whether I am divvy, you cannot
come. Now we see a backdrop of confusion. We see a backdrop
of contradiction. We see a backdrop of jealousy. All this was going on at this
time. And our Lord looked at this group
of people so confused And he lifted up his voice and
cried, if anybody's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Now let's consider what our Lord
says, if, if, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
The fact of the matter is, not everybody does. Not everybody's
thirsting for God. You know, preachers sometimes
present a picture of all men thirsting and hungering to know
God. They all have a hole in their heart that can't be fulfilled
until they hear the truth. That's not so. Everybody's happy
with things just the way they are. That's the way the natural
man is. He's not thirsting for God. Oh,
he might be religious, but he's not thirsting for the living
God. He's satisfied with things the way they are. Not everybody
thirsts. Our Lord did say, Blessed are
they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Not everybody
does, but what a blessed thing it is to thirst. If any man thirsts. And I like this. If any man thirsts. Now you listen to me real carefully.
The gospel is not For everybody. That's right. Jesus Christ never
intended to save everybody. He said, I came not but for the
lost sheep. I'm not sinned, but for the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. He never intended on saving everybody. He only came to save his elect. And that's what the scripture
teaches. That's just so. The gospel's not for everybody,
but beloved, it is for anybody. Amen. It's for anybody. I like that. I kind of like that
the way I like whosoever. I'm an anybody. If anyone thirsts,
it doesn't matter how far away you are, it doesn't matter how
sinful you are, it doesn't matter how ignorant and blind you are,
it doesn't matter how confused you are, how despairing you may
be, whosoever will, Let him take the water of life freely. You don't have to find a reason
in yourself. What a blessing, encouraging,
lifting up of the voice our Lord gives us. If any man thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. If any man thirsts, thirst is the absence of a necessity. Isn't that what it is? It's a
lack. It's a needing of that which
is not in you and cannot be produced by you. It's a painful need. When you're thirsty, you need
water, don't you? It's not optional. You need it. It's a necessity. You'll die
without it. You have an emptiness, a void,
a lack that you must have filled when you're thirsting. You consciously
lack righteousness. You know it's not in you, but
you thirst for it. You lack peace and you want it. You know something of what it
means to be a sinner and how you cannot not sin so you thirst
for the forgiveness of sin. Whatever it means to have my
sins forgiven, I want that. I thirst for that. I thirst to
know the truth. I want to know the truth, don't
you? I want to know the truth concerning God. I want to know
the truth concerning myself. I want to know the truth concerning
salvation. I thirst to know the truth. I thirst for mercy. I want God to not give me what
I deserve. I thirst for grace. I want God
to give me What I do not deserve. A thirst is an absence. It's a void that must be filled. If any man thirsts. Anybody thirsty? I love what our Lord tells that
thirsting one to do. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink." Now, I like this word, let him come. You know, we'll figure out a
reason to think that we're not allowed to come, won't we? I
can think of all kinds of reasons why I shouldn't be allowed to
come. But what if you're not one of the elect? What if you can't
come up with faith? You can't, what? Listen to me. This is a command. It's not an
invitation that you're allowed to turn down. It's not an offer
that's up to you to accept it or reject it. This is a command
to you. Let Him come. All the reasons
that you would think would keep you from coming have been dealt
with. You are allowed to come. Let him come. Well, what if I'm not one of
your lads? You don't need to worry about that. I assure you,
you don't. You are commanded by God to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He commands you to. And I'm thankful
it's a command. It's not, let me repeat. It's
not so much an invitation that I can turn down. It's not so
much an offer that I can accept or reject. It's a command that
I must obey or God will send me to hell if I don't. That puts
it in the right perspective, doesn't it? I must come. It's
a command. Let him come. All the things
that... All things are now ready. All
things are now ready. Let him come. Don't wait for
anything. Come right now. He says, let
him come to me. Christ Himself is the only one
who can do us any good. He's the only one who can quench
our thirst. Turn back to John chapter 4. Verse 7, 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 dealing
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift, the free gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. 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 didn't understand
what he was talking about. Are thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? She proves her ignorance here,
doesn't she? Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water... Now thirst again. There's a whole
lot in that statement, isn't there? 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
unto everlasting life. Whoever is thirsty, let him come
to me." Now what is this thing of coming to Christ? You know
it's not coming to the front of the church, you know that.
You know it's not coming to the waters of baptism. It's not even
coming to what we call the doctrines of grace, and coming to a new
doctrinal position, or it's not coming to a new lifestyle. What is this thing of coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, I can tell you some things
that the Scripture teaches concerning coming to Christ, what it is.
First of all, coming to Christ is the act. of spiritual life. In John chapter 5 verse 40, our
Lord said to that crowd, ye will not come to me that you might
have life. Coming to Christ is what people
who have spiritual life do. To whom coming as unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. People who have life come to
the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever it means to come, that's what
it is. This thing of coming to Christ is the evidence of divine
election. Our Lord said in John chapter
6 verse 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Coming to Christ is what those
who are taught by God do. Our Lord said in John 6, 45,
it's written in the prophets that they shall all be taught
of God. Every man, therefore, that has
heard and has learned of the Father cometh to me. Now, if God teaches you what
you're going to do and what I'm going to do, we're going to come
to the Lord Jesus Christ, whatever that means. Coming to Christ is what those
who are drawn by God do. Our Lord said in John 6.44, no
man can come to me except he is drawn by the Father. Drawn irresistibly where you
must come. This actually is the message
of evangelism. We read from Revelation 22, 17,
the spirit and the bride say, come. Let him that heareth say, come. Let him that's a thirst, come,
and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Now
listen to me, listen to me real carefully. Come and welcome to
the Lord Jesus Christ. You are called upon, everybody
in this room, you are called upon, you are commanded to come
to Jesus Christ the Lord. How do I do it? I mean, he's
seated at the right hand of the Father. I've never seen him physically.
I've never heard his voice audibly. I don't know what he looks like.
How do I do it? How do I get there? I'm flesh.
I can't see into heaven. How can I get to the Lord Jesus
Christ? What does it mean to come to
Jesus Christ? Well, when you come to a place,
and coming to Christ is coming to a person. When you come somewhere,
you leave a place to get to another place, don't you? You leave one
place and come to another with the emphasis being not on what
you're leaving, but where you're going. Isn't that what it is
to come? In coming to Christ, I leave any form of salvation by works. I get out of Dodge. I leave. I don't want to have anything
to do with any aspect of salvation where it's dependent upon some
work that I perform. I leave that. There's no good
news in that. There's no comfort in that. There's
no assurance in that. I leave any aspect of salvation
by works. And if I haven't left, I've never
come. Now understand that. If I haven't left salvation by
works, any, I don't care what form it comes under, if I haven't
left salvation by works, I've never come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Somebody once said, repentance is what you leave. Faith is where
you come. That's good, isn't it? It's the
truth. And I come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this was helpful to me. Would
you look in John chapter 6? John chapter 6 verse 35, And
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh
to me shall never hunker, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Coming to Christ and believing
on Christ is the precise same thing. John chapter 1, verse 12, But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name. To come to Christ is to believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what does it mean
to believe on his name? I have a daughter who has a car. And it's her car. I gave it to
her. It's a 1998 Volvo S70. She drives it around back and
forth. It's her car. You know whose
name it's in? Mine. She doesn't have the ability
to get that car. It's in my name. Now, if she runs into someone
and does damage to their property, to their person, who does the
law hold responsible? Who has to pay the damages? Me. It's in my name. Now, when I believe on His name,
I am relying upon Him to bear all the responsibility of my
salvation. I'm relying completely on Him
All that God requires of me, everything that God requires
of me, I mean everything, He looks to His blessings. I am relying on His name. Turn back to Psalm 106. Psalm 106. Verse 6, the psalmist says we sinned with
our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We've done wickedly. Now, that's
a good confession, isn't it? That's somebody truly confessing
their sins. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They
were spiritually stupid people, and we'll act with them. They
remembered not the multitude of thy mercies. They were ungrateful
people. But they provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. They were provoking people. Nevertheless,
He saved them. Why? Why? For His namesake. That He might make His mighty
power known. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake. have forgiven you. To believe
on His name. Have you noticed in public prayer,
and I know you do it in private prayer, when we pray, how do
we end our prayer? In His name. What do I mean by
that? Is that just some kind of magic
religious formula, kind of like abracadabra? No! When I pray in His name, I'm
saying, hear this prayer as he presents it to you, and
it's his prayer and not mine. You see, my prayers, the problem
is not some wandering thoughts or some evil thoughts, and you
know what it is to pray and some evil thought comes in your mind,
scares you to death, and you think, that's bad. But the problem
is not so much the wandering thoughts or the bad thoughts,
it's who's praying. That's the problem, who's praying. But when I pray in His name,
who's praying? It's Jesus Christ the Lord presenting
my prayer before the Father. And it comes to Him as a sweet
smelling savor. And it is beautiful in His sight. I come in His name. To come to Christ is to believe
on His name. Very much like the thief. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom." That was his only hope. Now, if the Lord
Jesus Christ owns my worthless name before the Father, does
anything else need to be said? No. That's what it is to believe
on His name. It's to rely upon His name. So to come to Christ is to believe
on His name, and listen to this, To come to Christ is not a long
journey. You get there as soon as you
come. And if it's taking you a long time, you got on the wrong
road. I'm sure of it. Believe on Christ right now. Trust the Lord Jesus Christ.
Young people, trust the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Old people, trust the Lord Jesus
Christ right now. Now, you're commanded to come
and welcome. Now, what I'd like to attempt
to do is tell you why I have come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you something. I
have come to Him, and the reason I know I have come to Him is
because I'm coming to Him right now. That's how I know. I'm coming
to Him right now is my wisdom and my righteousness and my sanctification
and my redemption. I am coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's how I know I've come.
Now, I want to tell you why I've come to Christ, and I want it
to be an encouragement to you to do the precise same thing. I want everybody in this room
right now to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. So why do you come
to Him? Well, I come to Christ, first of all, because I need
Him. I need Him. I have to have Him. I need His person to represent
me. I need His righteousness because I really believe I don't
have a personal righteousness of my own works. I need His precious
blood because I can't come up with a sin payment. I need His
intercession to represent me before the Father. Oh, I need
Him. I need His presence. I need Him
to show me my need. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness bodily dream. The only fitness he requires
is to feel your need of him. I can improve that, I assume.
The only fitness he requires is to have a need of him. Sometimes I don't feel it, but
whether I feel it or don't, I've got it. I need the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why I come to him. I need
him. I come to Christ because I'm
scared not to. I come to Christ because I have
nowhere else to go. It's not like I have any other
options. I come to Christ because I have to. Try not coming. I can't not come. I really can't. I come to Christ because I want
to. Because He is altogether lovely. Our Lord said, if any man thirsts,
back to our text in John 7. If any man thirsts, let him come. Let him come. All the reasons
to not come have been removed. All things are ready, let him
come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water." Now what this is talking about
is the satisfaction one experiences in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what satisfies my conscience? It is the end. I'm satisfied by that. You know what satisfies my conscience?
Knowing that his righteousness is mine. And I come into the
very presence of God as the very righteousness of God. That satisfies
my conscience. Nothing else does. I am satisfied
with the gospel of the Lord Jesus. God's satisfied with Christ.
I am too. I'm satisfied the same thing
God is. Now, I'm not satisfied with myself. I do support myself all the time,
and I'm not satisfied with anything about me, but I am satisfied
to be saved by Christ Jesus alone. When Paul said, O that I may
win Christ and be found in Him, I find complete satisfaction
in God coming looking for me and finding me in one place.
Not on my knees in prayer, not preaching, not witnessing, not
studying, but simply in the Lord Jesus Christ. I find complete
satisfaction. You are complete in him. Now look what he says. Out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now we know that
this is the work of God the Holy Spirit in a man, from verse 13,
but this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him
should receive. This is the work of God the Holy
Spirit in a man when he believes on Christ and finds complete
satisfaction in him. But I like to think of this thing.
He doesn't have to look outside for this satisfaction. He doesn't
have to look to some experience or something is done out of his
belly. from his innermost being shall
flow these rivers of living water." Now, what this is a reference
to is Christ as the water of life. When you're thirsty, what
do you want? You want water. Water is a necessity. We drink water
because we'll die without it, but I want you to think about
this. Everything we drink has water in it. Orange juice, Coffee? I can't tell you the pleasure
I get every morning out of drinking a cup of coffee. I love it. When I wake up in the morning,
I'm thinking about it. I'm drawn to the coffee pot.
I drink Starbucks. I'm spurred on that. You don't
like Starbucks. I do. I love my business. I actually,
I remember when I went through that sickness, they told me I
couldn't drink coffee anymore, but I'd kill myself. That's how
much I love drinking coffee. What's coffee without water? Grams. Doesn't taste good, does
it? makes his doctrine drinkable. We drink water for refreshment. How refreshed we are in simply
believing on Christ. We drink water for growth. How we grow in simply leaning
on Him. We wash ourselves with water.
He's that fountain open for sin and uncleanness. Water is a softener,
and the only thing that softens this hard heart is Christ Himself.
Water is used for warmth. You know, when I'm really cold,
the only thing that'll warm me up is a hot shower. You know
what it is to get, well, y'all probably don't know anything
about it here, but at home, we get cold. And the only thing,
when I'm that cold, get me in a hot shower, that'll warm me
up. Christ Jesus, oh, the warmth. Water is for recreation, how
we enjoy. simply believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no pleasure on earth
that can be compared to simply trusting Jesus Christ as my all. There's nothing that can be compared. And the only way you can understand
that is by believing. If this is a mystery to you,
if somebody thinks, what in the world is he talking about? It's
because you've never really believed. To simply trust Christ. Now,
let me back up. I don't want you to think, well,
I haven't felt enough. I wish I hadn't said it that way. Believing that Christ
is all in your salvation and you need nothing else is the
most wonderful experience there is. Whosoever will. I like that. I like what our
Lord said to that man in John chapter 5 who'd been crippled
for 38 years sitting by that pool. Wilt thou be made whole? Are you willing to be made whole?
Now he didn't understand what the Lord said. He said, I don't
have anybody to take you to the water. But our Lord said, are you willing
to be made whole? Are you willing to be saved by
Christ? I am. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need of him. This he gives you, tis the Spirit's
rising beam. Amen.