Tonight we're going to observe
the Lord's table together, and I think of the words the Lord gave with regard to
the Lord's table, this do in remembrance of me. And I think one of the most difficult
things to think about is the fact that we could forget him.
This do in remembrance of me. Aaron Greenleaf's nephew, John
and Sherry's grandson, died suddenly this week and he's gone there
to preach the funeral. Everybody remember that family. Tonight I'm going to be preaching
on this subject. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? I've entitled The message for this morning,
thirsty, thirsty. Verse 37 in that last day, that
great day of the feast. Now this is talking about the
feast of tabernacles. There were three feasts that
the children of Israel were called upon to go to Jerusalem every
year. And this is the Feast of Tabernacles.
It was where they were commemorating their 40 years dwelling in booths
in the wilderness, in tents. It's sometimes called the Feast
of Booths or Tents. And you would go to Jerusalem
for eight days to celebrate that which God told you to come to.
And this was the eighth day, it was the last day, and people
were getting ready to return home. And that last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood. He put himself in a prominent
position where everyone could see him. Now there are other
scriptures that said he raised not his voice. He wasn't someone
that was always yelling and bellaring out. But this time he stood and
cried with a loud voice so as to be heard. Now that ought to
catch our attention. He stood and he cried. And I have no doubt that this
was a loud voice. wanting to be heard. He saw these people leaving this
feast as empty as they came. He recognized that. And he cried, if any man thirst. I love that phrase, if any man.
Now, the gospel is not for everybody. I say this with fear, even talking
about it, but there is a place called hell where men and women are suffering
eternally because of their sin. That's a very sobering thought,
and it's got a very large population. The gospel is not for everybody,
but listen to this, the gospel is for anybody. If any man, I
don't care who you are, the gate's wide open. If any man, thirst, let him come to me. Only the
Lord can say this, let him come to me. Let him come to me. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. Move back to verse 31 of our
text. Thirsty. Thirsty. 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? Now they had observed many
miracles, and they saw these things. Now this faith that they
had is the same faith in John chapter 2. Would you turn back
there? Verse 23. John chapter 2, verse 23. When
he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed
in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. It created
a kind of faith, but not saving faith. But Jesus did not commit
himself unto them. Because he knew all men and he
needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in
man. He saw these people who said,
well, he did them. You can't deny what he did. He
must be the Christ. You know, nobody ever believed
the gospel from seeing a miracle. Never happened. Never will. They did not have saving faith. They were the same people as
these people in John chapter two. There may be people here
this morning, just like this. You have a kind of faith in Christ,
but it's not saving faith. Back to our text in John chapter
seven. Verse 32, the Pharisees heard
that the people murmured such things concerning him, and the
Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. These were the police. They sent
some, we need to get this guy shut up. People were seemingly
believing on him, and so they sent some police officers to
take him. Verse 33, then said Jesus unto
them, he had a little while, Am I with you? And then I go
unto him that sent me. He's talking about going back
to heaven. You shall seek me and shall not find me in where
I am, thither you cannot come. They were clueless as to what
he was saying. They didn't have a clue. Then said the Jews among
themselves, where will he go? That we should not find him.
Will he go into the 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 there,
you cannot come. They did not have a clue as to
what he meant by that saying. And then in our text, in that
last day, The people had already gone through
all the form and the ceremony, all the smoke and mirrors, all
the pomp and circumstance, and it was now over. And they were
preparing to return home after those eight days. And the Lord
cried, if any man thirsts, let him come to me. and drink. You know, the Lord's the only
one who could say this. If I said, if any man thirsts,
let him come to me, you'd be an idiot if you came. I can't
do anything about that. But here's the only one who can. If any man thirsts. Thirst. Now what is thirst? Well, it's a need to drink. A feeling of need. That's what thirst is. It's a feeling of need. And when you're thirsty, you
know that you yourself cannot satisfy that need. That must
come from outside of you. You can't satisfy your own thirst.
And you know this, if you don't have your thirst met, you'll
die. That's what you know. There's a need. There's an understanding
that you yourself cannot meet that need. And there's an understanding
that if that need is not met, you will die. That is thirst, need. The Lord said, the whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick. And that word sick,
there's several words translated sick in the New Testament. That
particular word means evilly sick. Evilly sick. You know, your sickness
has something to do with your own personal evil. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick." If you're sick, you need this great physician. The Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In the fourth beatitude, we read
this, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. For they shall be filled. In Luke chapter nine, verse 11,
we read these words by our Lord or concerning our Lord. He healed them that had need. of healing. Oh, that word need. You know, when the Lord rebuked
the church at Laodicea that was rich and increased with goods
and had need of nothing to that church, he said, I'll spew you
out of my mouth. This lack of need makes Christ
sick. So much so, he says, I'll vomit
you out of my mouth. That's the church, he said, you're
lukewarm. David, the man after God's own
heart, what a man. David, he described himself 10
times. Like this. Now, David was a wealthy
man. David was a powerful man. He
said, I'm poor and needy. I'm poor. He had great material
riches, but he knew I have nothing to bring to God that can recommend
me to him. I'm poor. I'm bankrupt. And I
have great needs. Not only am I poor, but I have
great needs. I need Thee, precious Jesus,
for I am full of sin. My soul is dark and guilty. My heart is dead within. I need, I need, I need the precious
fountain where I can always flee. The blood of Christ, most precious. The sinners, perfect. Thirsty? Needy? You know, I find
this to be true with regard to myself. I need Him to make me
need. I'm not going to be needy unless
He makes me needy. I'm going to be satisfied unless
He is pleased to make me needy. I need Him to act in my behalf. Now, objectively, I believe the Bible teaches that
I need, I need, listen to this. I need
to be United to Christ eternally. The Bible teaches that. I see
that. I need, I see the Bible teaches that God elected a people.
There's no question in my mind about that. I see that the Bible
teaches that Christ died for the elect and accomplished their
salvation. I see that Christ justified his
people, made them to be without guilt. I see that. I see that
Christ accomplished salvation for those for whom he died. I
see that the scripture teaches that God's grace saves irresistibly. It doesn't simply make salvation
available to me. Or it's not an offer to be by
grace. You're saved. I see that. I see
that the Bible teaches God's people will persevere. I see
that objectively, but subjectively, I need this. I need to be. eternally united to Jesus Christ. I need for him to stand as my
surety and take complete responsibility for my salvation. I need that.
And if he doesn't, I won't be saved. That's how much I need
it. I need God to elect me. If he
doesn't elect me, I won't be saved. People argue over the
fairness of election. I know this. If he doesn't elect
me, I won't be saved. When somebody says, do you need
to preach that? Well, do you need it to save you? Then you
need it to preach it. You need to preach it, too. That kills
me when people say, should that be preached? Well, of course
it should be preached. That's ridiculous. I need Jesus Christ to work out
a perfect righteousness for me. I need His precious blood to
put away all my sins. I need Him to stand as my representative. I need Him to die for me. I need
for Him to raise for me. I need Him to do everything in
my salvation. I need. If I don't have this,
I'm lost. This is need. I need Him. I need His grace. I need everything the Bible says
about how God saves sinners. It's not just an objective, yeah,
I see that's what the Bible teaches. I need. I need. Needy? Needy? What does the Lord say with regard
to this thirsty one? You know, when I read First Corinthians
chapter one, verse 30, he's made into us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. I see that. I need it. I need him to be my righteousness. I need him to be my holiness.
I need him to be my full sin payment. I need him to be my
wisdom before God. I need him. That's what thirst
is. Thirst. There's a need for water
and you know, you can't produce what is needed to quench your
thirst. It's got to come with outside
of you. And if you don't have it, you'll die. That's what need
is. I need everything. The Bible says with regard to
Jesus Christ, the Lord, I need needy. Let not conscience make
you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requireth
is to have a need of him. You know, I don't even feel my
need the way I ought to. I know that. But I have a need. I have a need of Jesus Christ
to be my all in salvation. If any man, that's you, that's you. You fit into that
group, any man? No, gospel's not for every man,
but it is for any man. If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. And let me give you a hint about
this. This is not an invitation. This is a command. You don't
need to worry about whether or not you're invited. You're commanded. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. Only the Lord can say this. No
son of Adam could make a promise like this. If any man thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. He said in the previous chapter,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. In Matthew chapter 11, verse
28, the Lord said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden. Now that doesn't simply mean
being depressed over life's circumstances. That means you're crushed under
a burden of your own sinfulness. Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. and I will give you rest. You know, the Lord's able to
do that. He said, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart. What a description of the Savior.
If you came to anybody else, including me, bearing your soul. Oh, I might act. I need to be
careful. I don't want to think, well,
I can't say anything to him. I don't mean that. But what I'm
saying is, if anybody comes to anybody else and you bear your
soul, they're going to say, oh, not the Lord. He's meek and lowly in heart. You're not going to find him
judging you and holding you off. He's meek and lowly in heart,
and you'll find rest for your souls. There remaineth a rest. That
means you're not doing anything. You're resting on what he did.
There remaineth a rest for the people of God, for he that's
entered into his rest hath ceased from his own works. Cease and
desist. Quit working. Look to Christ only. In Revelation 21.6, he says,
I will give to him that's a thirst of the water of life freely. Freely. You don't need to bring
a thing. Freely. Revelation 22.17, let
him that's a thirst come." And this is his command. Let him
that's a thirst come. Now, I have no doubt that this
passage of scripture when the Lord says, if any man thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. It's taken from Isaiah chapter
55, if you'll turn there with me. Isaiah chapter 55. Doesn't say how thirsty. Somebody
says, I'm afraid I don't thirst enough. I'm sure you don't thirst
enough. I don't either. Doesn't say how thirsty, it just
says if any man thirsts. If any man thirsts. Now look
here in Isaiah chapter 55, verse one, ho! You know, this is the Lord speaking.
And he gives this word to catch our attention. This is God speaking.
Ho! Better listen. Better listen. Everyone that thirsteth. I repeat, it doesn't say how
much, it just says thirsteth. I'm one of them. Everyone that thirsteth Come
ye to the waters. The only way your thirst can
be quenched. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
fountain of living water. Thirsty? Come to the waters. Now he narrows down who this
target audience is. He that hath no money. You know, whenever you're wanting
to sell something, you're not going to sell it with no money.
It wouldn't do you any good. But here the Lord's target audience
is described, he that hath no money. He that has nothing to
bring to the table. I can't say, well, I've at least
defeated this sin or I've conquered this bad thing and I've stopped
doing this and I've started doing that. Surely I can. No, you exclude
yourself. The only one who is called upon
to come is that one who has nothing to bring. He that hath no money, come ye. and eat, yea, come by wine and
milk." Now milk is what is necessary. Wine is what is pleasurable. Both of those are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Everything. Wine and milk, not
just wine, but milk, not just milk, but wine. Oh, the glories
of this one we're coming to drink of. Come buy wine and milk. And he repeats himself without
money and without price. All you can bring is nothing.
And if you bring something, you can't come. Now that's the words
of the Lord. He says in verse two, wherefore
do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor
for that which satisfies not? Your thirst cannot be quenched
by your works. You'll never be satisfied. You're always going to think,
am I missing something? Am I missing something? I'm not
really finding satisfaction in my doings. Am I missing something?
Now, why do you spend your money on that which is not bread? It's
not gonna give you any satisfaction. Hearken diligently unto me and
eat that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come to
me. Hear! And your soul shall live
and I will make, I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David." Now, what are those sure
mercies of David? Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 23. If you come to Christ for mercy,
you will find that the exact covenant he made with David,
he's made with you personally. He didn't give David a better
covenant. This is your hope too. 2 Samuel 23, verse one, now these
would be the last words of David. David's dying. Now, I put myself in this position. What if this is my last day?
These are my last words. David's dying. And I've made
this statement before. David was a very special man.
He was a man after God's own heart. He was the sweet psalmist
of Israel. At one time, he was the most
powerful man on the earth because the scripture says the fear of
David fell upon every nation. I mean, he was a military leader
that everybody, we don't mess with David. I mean, He also was
a man of great sin. And the scripture records some
of his many sins. He was a sinful man, like you
and I are. What is he gonna be talking about
on his last day? Verse five, although my house be not so with
God, Now, his house was a mess. His kids, they were a mess. And Lord told him it would be
that way. He said, the sword's never gonna
depart from your house. His house was a mess. And I have no doubt
that he was also talking about this house. Although my house, Be not so
with God yet. Yet. Hath he made with me an
everlasting covenant? Now that's true with regard to
me. That covenant he made with David,
listen to me, he made with me the exact same covenant. These are the sure mercies of
David. I mean, they're sure, aren't they? Yet hath he made
with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. Sure mercies of David. And David
said, this is all my salvation and all my desire, though he
maketh not to grow. Now this covenant. It's all my
salvation is in this covenant. Is that the way it is with you?
I tell you what, if you're thirsty, you know, that's the only satisfaction
you can have is in the sure mercies of David, the covenant that God
made with David. Now there's so much in this covenant. Jeremiah 32, 41 of the covenant
promises is I will not turn away from them to do them good, but
I'll put my fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from
me. I'll not turn away from them
to do them good. I'll put my fear in their hearts. They shall
not depart in me. You're included in that covenant
in Ezekiel 36 when he talks about the new heart he gives. It says,
you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities
and abominations. That's part of the promise of
the covenant. You know what that does? That keeps you looking
to Christ only, doesn't it? You have nowhere else to look. Now back to John chapter seven. Verse 37, in that last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any
man thirst, let him come to me. and drink. Now, I left the house this morning,
got in the car, came to this building. You don't come to Christ like
that. It's not something you do physically.
When you come to Christ, you don't move a muscle. Let Him
come to me and drink. Coming to Christ and believing
on Christ is the exact same thing. He said in John chapter 6 verse
35, He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst. Now, you believe on Christ. First
of all, when you believe who He is, do you believe He's the Son of
God? Do you believe he's the uncreated second person of the
blessed Trinity, the one who created the universe as an act
of his own will? Do you believe he's one with
the father? In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Do you believe? Do you believe who he is? Do
you believe what he said? Do you believe what he said when
he said, him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. For
no reason, if you come to him, there's no reason he'll cast
you out. Do you rely on who he is and what he said and what
he did as everything in your salvation? When he said it is finished,
all your eggs are in that basket. That's what that means to believe
on him. All your eggs are in that basket. If it was not finished,
you won't be saved. You believe that? If any man thirst, let him come
to me. Not to religion, not to some
man, not down to the front of the church, not to some resolution. Well, it's going to be better
from here on out. I'm going to start doing, shut
that stuff up. Come to him. Come to Him. That's His command. Come to Him. He that believeth on me, verse
38. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Now, There's not a verse in the
Old Testament that says that. Get your concordance. When he
says, as the scripture has said, there's not a verse particularly
in the Old Testament that says that. But remember who's speaking.
This is the one who knows what the scripture means. And here's what this means. This
is the true interpreter of scripture. I love it in the sermon on the
map where he said, you've heard it said of them that old. And
then he quotes some kind of scripture and then say, but I say to you,
I'm the only one who knows what it means. It means what I says
it say it does. And this is his interpretation
of the whole scripture. If you believe on him, out of
your belly shall flow rivers of living water. That's what faith is. You see,
if you ever stopped believing, you never believed in the first
place. Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water. You're gonna continue to believe.
You're gonna have a source in you, Him. Him, not you, Him,
that those waters will flow continually. Now turn to John chapter four.
Turn back just a few pages. John chapter four. Verse four. Must, needs, go through Samaria. One of his elect was there. One of his chosen sinners was
there. He must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria,
which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied
with his journey. You know, while he's the son
of God, he's bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. He was
wearied with his journey. A human being, wearied. a human being with the limitations
of the flesh, wearied with his journey. Sat thus on the well,
and it was about noon, the six hour. There cometh a woman of
Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, give me
to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then said 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." Now all she'd ever experienced is when
a Jew saw her, he turned the other way. This is a Samaritan. I don't have anything to do with
a Samaritan. Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift, the free gift of God with no
strings attached, that which he gives freely and who it is
that saith to thee, give me to drink. If you knew who I was,
you'd have asked him and he would have given thee living water,
that water that flows continually. 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 have any idea what
he was talking about. Then she asks a very stupid question.
Art thou greater than our father Jacob? Yeah, infinitely so, infinitely
so. Art thou greater than our father Jacob which gave us this well
and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle,
Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again. Now you can put that over everything
in this world. You drink of this water. Oh,
you might find some temporary satisfaction, but it won't last. You will thirst again. all of the waters of this life,
I don't care what it is, you will thirst again. You will find soul satisfaction
in anything that this world has to offer. But verse 14, 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 as a well of water, springing up into everlasting
life." Same thing the Lord said there in John chapter seven.
Now, think of this concept to never thirst again. Now, what's that mean? If you ever trust Christ as your
righteousness before God, you'll never thirst for anything else. You won't be looking for anything
else. You won't say, well, there must be more. If you say that's
because you've never drank. To not thirst is to believe. that I am complete in Him, and
there's nothing else needed. If I believe on Christ, I'm not
looking for anything else. I've had people say to me, there
must be more than that. Well, the only reason you say
that is because you've never believed. If you believe on Christ, you
are plumb satisfied to be saved by him. You satisfied? The writer to the Hebrews said, let your conversation be, your
life be without covetousness. and be content with such things
as you have. Now, I realize there's nobody
in here that ought to be coveting more materially. You would agree
with me there. It's in your heart, but it ought
not be. I mean, everybody in here, we got plenty. We got plenty. But this is not
talking about don't covet materially. You shouldn't. But this is talking
about don't covet spiritually, because if you have Christ, there's
nothing to covet. If you have Christ, you have
all. And what do you got to covet? If you got all, there's nothing
to covet. Be content with such things as
you have. Now, I've got a 2013 Toyota Avalon,
and I've been thinking, I'm about ready for another car. Well,
no, you ought to be content with that. True. True. But that's not really what that's
talking about. What do you have in Christ? Complete acceptance. Justification. The forgiveness of all your sins.
The promise that you're going, he's gonna enable you to persevere
all the way to the end. Now unto him that's able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence
with exceeding joy. Is that enough for you to be
content with? Be content. Be satisfied with
such things as you have. For he has said, I will never
leave thee. nor forsake thee. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That
soul, though all hail, should endeavor to shake. I'll never,
no never, no never forsake you. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name,
that name that angels bow in his presence, the name that's
above every name. We ask in his name that you,
by your grace, would create a thirst in each person here. for thyself
and for thy son. Let us come to him and drink. In his name we pray, amen.