John Chapter 7. While you're turning there, Mark
and Donna Daniel will be moving back next weekend. They'll actually
be here next Monday morning. And he was asking when he unloads
his truck, if someone could help them unload their truck and put
it in storage a week from tomorrow, next Monday morning. So I know
we're all excited about them being back here. It's a place over on Richmond
Road, a storage place. I'll find out exactly where it's
at, but if anybody can help me, that would be helpful. John,
chapter 7. I'd like to read 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. Jesus stood and cried. He lifted up His voice so as
to be heard. Now that catches my attention. Jesus stood and cried. And He did this on the last day,
that great day of the feast. The Feast of Tabernacles. Now,
it had been going on for a week. And this was the last day. And
our Lord was looking at people who were just as empty on this
last day as they were on the first when it began. Now, let's look at some of the
things that were going on during this time when our Lord made
this cry. Look back up to verse 25. 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 unto him. Do the rulers indeed know that
this is the very Christ? Howbeit we know this man whence
he is, but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. Now, in those verses of Scripture
I just read, I see blatant contradiction. They said, he's indeed the very
Christ, but we know that he's not. Complete contradiction. They say in verse 27, how be
it we know this man whence he is, but when Christ cometh, no
man knoweth whence he is or where he's from, we see error. As a
matter of fact, the Old Testament scriptures point out clearly
that Christ will come from Bethlehem, but they were Contradicting this,
there's error regarding what the Bible actually says. Verse
28, Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, You both
know me, and you know whence I am, and I have not come of
myself that he that sent me is true, whom you know not, but
I know him, for I am from him, and he hath sent me. In these
verses of scriptures, we see willful ignorance. The Lord says,
You know. I'm from God. And I can say to
everybody in this room, let's don't even worry about anybody
outside in this room right now, but I'm saying to everybody in
this room, you know that Jesus Christ the Lord is no ordinary
man. You know that. You know deep
down that he comes from God, and yet you don't know God. Now, you don't live up to the
light you have, is what he's saying. You are guilty of willful
ignorance, none as blind as those who will not see. Go on reading verse 30. Then
they sought to take him, 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 those which this man has done? Now, here I see
false faith. It's the same faith that's spoken
of in John, Chapter two, to turn back there to John, Chapter two,
beginning in verse twenty three. Now, when he was at Jerusalem
at the Passover in the feast day, many believed in his name
when they saw the miracles which he did, but Jesus did not commit
himself unto them. Because he knew all men, and
needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was
in man. Now, they had a faith, so to speak, from seeing the
miracles he did, but it wasn't a true conviction regarding his
person. It was a false faith, the same
spoken of in John chapter 2, 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. Here
we have jealousy. They couldn't stand anything
being said regarding the Lord Jesus Christ that was glorious,
so they wanted Him arrested. We have jealousy. They wanted
this glory. Verse 33, Then said Jesus unto
them, Yet a little while I am with you, and then I go unto
him that sent me. You shall seek me and shall not
find me. And where I am, thither you cannot
come. Then said the Jews among themselves,
Where will he go that we shall not find him? Will he go and
disperse 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 where I am, that you cannot come? There we have no
understanding, no light. They didn't understand what he
was saying. Now, against this backdrop, darkness, willful ignorance, contradiction
regarding the truth, jealousy, false faith against this backdrop,
he stood and cried, ìIf any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.î If any man Not everybody does. You know,
you've heard people say everybody's just thirsting for God. Everybody's
got a hole in their heart that needs to be fulfilled. Everybody
desires to know God. No, they don't. No, they don't. Not everybody thirsts. If any man does thirst, Let him come to me and drink,
if any man thirsts." Christ is not for everybody. He never intended
to save everybody. If He did, everybody would be
saved. Now, isn't that so? If He intended to save everybody,
everybody would be saved. He's not for everybody, but He
is for anybody, if any man thirsts. Let him come
to me and drink. It doesn't matter how far away
you are. It doesn't matter how sinful you are. It doesn't matter
how confused you are, how despairing you may be. Our Lord says, whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. His grace is for anybody. You
in that group? His grace is for anybody. Not everybody, but anybody. If any man thirsts, our Lord
says, if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Thirst
is the absence of the necessary. It's a lack. It is a needing. A needing of that which is not
in you and cannot be produced by you. It is a painful need. When you're thirsty, you need
water. It is a necessity. You'll die
without. You have an emptiness. You have
a void. You have a lack that must be
filled. That's what happens when you're
thirsty. You thirst for righteousness because in your heart of hearts,
you know you don't have any. You thirst for peace because
you don't have any. You thirst and hunger to have
your sins forgiven because you know you're a sinner and you
know they must be forgiven or you can't be saved. You thirst
to know the truth. You thirst to know God. A thirst
is an absence It's a void that must be filled. Not everybody
is thirsty. But if any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Is there anybody who's
thirsty? I wonder. Is there anybody, and
I'm asking myself that question, is there anybody who's really
thirsty, a conscience absence of that which is necessary. You know you can't quench your
own thirst from within. Something must be brought without
from you and brought into you to quench that thirst. If any
man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. And let me also
say this at the outset. This is a command. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. To not do so is to disobey a
plain command. This is not good advice. This
is not an invitation. You see, there's no crime in
turning down an invitation. This is not an invitation. This
is not an offer where it's up to you to accept it or reject
it. This is a command. If any man thirsts, let him come. I like this word let. Let him
come. The reasons that make a man believe
he may not come have been removed. Let him come unto thee and drink. Let him come right now. Don't
wait for anything to happen. Don't wait for something. Come
right now. Now, just as you are, come and
welcome to the Lord Jesus Christ. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink. You see, Christ himself is the
only one who can do anything about your thirst. He's the only
one who can do anything about my thirst. Nobody else and nothing
else can quench this thirst that he speaks of. Only Christ himself. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink. Turn back to John chapter 4. Verse 7, 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 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 thou knewest the gift of God,
and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest
have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman said 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 know what he was talking
about. All she knew was H2O. Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? What a question! Are you greater
than Jacob? Yeah. Yeah. That's the biggest understatement
ever made, isn't it? Verse 13. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. And there's so much in that. You drink of this water, you'll
be thirsty 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 spring of water, springing
up into everlasting life. Now, if any man thirst, let him
come to me and drink. It's not coming to the waters
of baptism. It's not coming to a new doctrine,
a different doctrine than you had before. It's not coming to
a new lifestyle. It's coming to Jesus Christ Himself,
Christ the Lord. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink. Now, what is this thing of coming
to Christ? What's it mean? If any man thirsts,
let him come to me and drink. Now, the Lord Jesus, right now,
as I'm speaking, is seated at the right hand of the Father.
How do I come to Him? How do I get to Him? What does
it mean to come to the Lord Jesus Christ? Because it seems, in
very many respects, very mysterious, doesn't it? I mean, if I'm coming
to you, I know what that means because I see you. I can get
there. I can walk there. I can crawl there, whatever.
But coming to Christ, what does it mean to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ? I know some things about it.
You know, coming to Christ, coming to his person is the act of spiritual
life. Our Lord said in John chapter
4, chapter 5, verse 40, you will not come to me that you might
have Coming to Christ is the act of spiritual life. It's what
folks who have spiritual life do. They come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. 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 what? Come to me. It's the evidence
of divine election. If you've been taught by God,
this is what you do. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our
Lord said in John 6, 45, Every man that has heard and learned
of the Father cometh unto me. It's what those who have been
taught by God do. It's what those who are drawn by God do. Our
Lord said in John chapter 6, verse 44, No man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me draw him. If you're being
drawn by God, here's what you're drawn to do. You are drawn to
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. You find Him irresistible. You must come to Him. This is actually the message
of evangelism. Turn to Revelation chapter 22.
Hold your finger there in John and turn to Revelation 22. I
love this verse of Scripture. Verse 17. Now, here's what God, the Holy
Spirit has to say, and here's what the bride, the church has
to say. This is actually the message
of evangelism. And the spirit and the bride
say, come! Now, the message of human religion
is go and do. The message of God is come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't wait for anything. Don't
wait for an experience. Don't wait till you get better.
Don't wait till you know more. Don't wait. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Go on reading. And let him that
hear it say, Come. I hear it. This is what I'm saying.
Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. What does it mean to come to
Christ? You listen real carefully. What does it mean to come to
Christ? To come is to leave one place. And go to another. With the emphasis being on where
you're going and not where you're leaving. And you repeat that, I want you
to think about it. To come is to leave one place and go to
another. You can't go to the one place
unless you leave that place. To come is to leave one place
and go to another with the emphasis being on where you're going and
not where you're leaving. Now, in coming to Christ, I leave any form of salvation by works. I leave. I get out of Dodge. I don't want to have anything
to do with any form of salvation by works. I leave self-salvation. I leave the way of this world.
And if I don't leave, I've never come. Now, you write that down. If I don't leave salvation by
works, I've never come to the Lord Jesus Christ, because if
you don't come to a place, and He's a place, He's a person.
You don't come to Him without leaving something. I mean, you
leave. You turn your back on salvation
powers, you burn your bridges. You burn your bridges. You ever
burn your bridges? The only hope you have is Christ.
You've left everything else. That's what you do when you come
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You leave something to come to Him. Somebody once said, repentance
is what you leave. Faith is where you come. And
that's true. I come, I leave a place and I
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is very helpful to
me. Turn to John chapter six. What does it mean to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ? I sure want to, don't you? Whatever
it means to come to Christ, that's what I want more than anything
else. Whatever it means to come to
Christ, oh, may God give me the grace to do just that, to actually
come to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look here
in verse 35. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Now
here, coming and believing are used interchangeably. To come
to Christ is to believe on Christ. To believe on Christ is to come
to Christ. Look back in 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." Now, to come to Christ is to believe
on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what in the world
does that mean? What does it mean to believe on the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ? My daughter has a car. It's her car. It's Aubrey's car. You know whose name it's in?
Mine. If Aubrey takes that car out
and runs into somebody or runs into their property and tears
up their car or tears up their property, who's responsible for
it, Aubrey or me? Who's going to pay the bill? I do. If that car is in my name,
I bear all the responsibility. If there's going to be a lawsuit,
you know who's going to be sued? Me. If somebody goes to jail,
you know who's going to go to jail? Me. Because that car is
in my name. I bear all the responsibility
of everything that happens in that car. Now, if I believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, I am relying on Him to bear all the responsibility. I believe in His name. I really
believe, I'm relying on this, that Everything that God requires
of me, He looks to His Son for. Do you believe that? God requires of me, me, perfect
obedience before His holy law. He looks to His Son for that.
God requires of me for all my sins to be paid for. He looks
to the precious blood of His Son for that. I believe on His
name. I believe that all that God requires
of me is found in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you
know, when God gives me grace to really believe that, I just
feel footloose and fancy free. I feel so liberated. Everything
God requires. I need everything. I can't take
that too far. Everything God requires of me, He looks to His
Son, Jesus Christ, for I believe on His name. Believing on His name and praying
in His name is the precise same thing. You know, when I pray
in His name, when I pray, we end our prayers, we pray in Christ's
name. What do we mean by that when
we pray in Christ's name? I say, hear this prayer as if
Christ Himself presented it. I don't bring this prayer in
my name being expected to be heard because I deserve it or
because I'm real spiritual or because of anything about me.
When I present this prayer before the Great Father, I present it
only in Christ's name. And you know what? It is Christ's
prayer. That's what the intercession
of Christ is. He actually presents it before the Father. It's Christ
praying. It's not my prayer He hears.
It's my prayer. It's Christ's prayer. Union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. So when I believe in His name,
I believe that God hears me, accepts me, receives me for Christ's
sake. Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake. has forgiven you. Now, here's the most powerful
illustration that comes into my mind about what this thing
of believing on his name is. That thief is nailed to that
cross. He hasn't been baptized. He's
never given a dime to the cause of Christ. He's nailed to a cross. He says to that one hanging by
him, Lord, he knew who Christ was,
didn't he? You reckon anybody thought, that
guy's crazy if he thinks he's the Lord. He's hanging there
on a cross. He believes he's Lord? Yeah, he knew. He believed he
was God. He said, don't you fear God,
seeing you're in the same combination. He believed who Christ was. And
he said, Lord, remember me. when you return as a mighty conquering
king. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. Now, here's a question I want
to ask you. If the Lord remembers your name,
will anything else need to be said? Not at all. Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. Now, to come to Christ is to
believe on Christ. You see what that means? It means
to believe on His name. It's to really believe that His
name, save for His namesake, it brings you into the very presence
of God, accepted and perfect. You really believe that? You've
blessed salvation by works, and you believe on His name, and
to come to Christ You believe on His name and in coming to
Christ, listen to this, it's not a long journey. You get there
as soon as you come. You're already there. If it's
taken you a long time to get there, you got on the wrong road.
I'm sure of that. To come to Christ is not a long
journey. It is simply believing on His
name. Now, I want to tell you why I've come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I know I've come to Christ because I'm coming to Him right
now. That's how I know I've come. I'm coming to Him right now.
And I want to urge you to come to Christ. And I want to encourage
you to come to Christ. And I want to tell you why I've
come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's my prayer that God will
cause this to be an encouragement to you to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I've come to Christ. And
the reason I know I've come to Christ is because I'm coming
to Him right now. I've come to the Lord Jesus Christ because
I need it. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. I have to have him. I need his
person to represent me. I need him. I need his righteousness
because I know I don't have one. I need His precious blood because
I know I don't have any way of paying for my sins before God.
I need His intercession to represent me. I need His mercy. I need Him to not give me what
I deserve. I need His grace. I need Him
to give me what I don't deserve. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why I come to Him. I need Him. I need Thee, precious
Jesus, for I am full of sin. My soul is dark and guilty. My heart is dead within. I need
that cleansing fountain where I can always flee the blood of
Christ, most precious. The sinners perfectly. I need the Lord Jesus Christ. I need His presence. I need Him
to cause me to show me my need. That's how bad I need Him. I
need Him to show me my need. I come to Christ because of need
and I come to Christ because I'm afraid not to. I'm scared
not to. I come to Christ because I don't
have anywhere else to go. It's not like I have another
option. I really don't. I have no other options. I come to Christ because I have
to. I come to Christ because I can't
not come. I can't. I come to Christ because I want
to. I want to come to the Lord Jesus
Christ. I find him to be irresistible. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me, and
the fairest of ten thousand in my blessed Lord I see. Back to our text in John chapter
seven. On that last day, That great
day of the feast, verse 37, 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. But this he spake of the Spirit. which they that believe on him
should receive, for the holy dose was not yet given, because
Jesus was not yet glorified. I'm going to get more into that
next week, Lord willing. But here's the point I want to
make. We know that this drinking of
the Lord Jesus Christ is the work of the Spirit of God in
a man. And it means that that man's thirst is actually quenched
in coming to Jesus Christ. If you come to the Lord Jesus
Christ, your thirst will be quenched. The man who drinks of Christ
is satisfied. He's not still thirsty. Now,
that doesn't mean I'm satisfied with myself, because I'm not.
I continually disappoint myself. And I'm not satisfied with myself.
That's a no-brainer, isn't it? And you're not either. But I
am truly satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ. You ought to be,
sure. Sure. I mean, what's to not be
satisfied with? Colossians chapter 2 verse 10 says, In Him dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete. You don't lack one single thing. Do you find that satisfying?
I find such satisfaction in that. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and I am complete. in Him, I know that
I need Christ and I know that He is all I need. I know that. He's all I need. He's not the
bare-bones minimum, entrance requirement. He's everything.
I've got the entrance requirement. I've got the top requirement
and everything in between. He is all I need. Out of that one's belly shall
flow rivers of living water, Christ Himself is the water of
life, and by His Spirit, Christ in us, we find Him to be coming
from our belly, a spring of water, never ceasing. Now, what's that
mean? Well, let's think of Christ as
water. Christ, the water of life. Now, I know this much about water.
I've got to have it. This is not of a dessert. It's not unnecessary. I must
have Christ, the water of life. We drink water because we'll
die without it. And, you know, everything we drink has water
in it. Milk has water in it. Orange juice has water in it.
Whatever we drink has water in it. And if you take the water
away, you can't drink it, can you? You ever tried to drink
coffee grounds? I mean, you're awful. You've got to have that water.
It makes it good. I look forward to every cup of
coffee I drink. It's exciting to me. But you
take the water away. Those grounds are no good. You
see, Christ, the water of life, makes all of his doctrine drinkable. You take the water away and what
do you have left? You can't drink, can you? You
can't drink without Water. Everything we drink has water
in it. We drink water for refreshment. What refreshment we find in believing
on Him. Water is used for growth. Is
a plant going to grow without water? Well, you know it's not. We wash ourselves with water. And here's the fountain open
for sin and uncleanness. Water is a softener. How Christ
softens. the heart. Water is used for
warmth, steam, heat. How warming we find the Lord
Jesus Christ. Water is used to cool down. How
He cools us down. Water is used for recreation,
enjoyment. How we enjoy being in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, there is no excuse. You listen to me real carefully.
There's no excuse. The gospel's been preached to
you. Been preached to me. There's no excuse for anybody
to not come to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. He says, if
any man thirsts. Now, are you an any man? Are
you thirsty? Well, if you're not thirsty, OK. But if you're
thirsty. If any man thirsts. Let him come
to me and drink. May God enable us to do so. Let's pray together.