Now again, John chapter 7 at
verse 37, in that last day, that last day, the seventh or eighth
day of this feast, that great day of the feast, the Feast of
Tabernacles, the Lord Jesus Christ stood, the Preacher of God, the
Man of God, God Almighty in the flesh, stood and cried, cried
out, saying, Anybody thirsty? If any man, if any man thirst,
let him come, let him come. Let him come unto me and let
him drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath
said, out of his belly his innermost being shall flow rivers Rivers,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Rivers of living, living, living
water. Now I'm entitling the message
from the word the Lord declares in verse 37. Simply come and
drink. Come and drink. Come and drink. The Lord Jesus
Christ is in his own temple. These folks are going about all
their religious hustle and bustle. They have been observing this
seven- or eight-day feast of the tabernacles for all these
days. And the Lord stood up as they
started to depart, going back to their home, going back to
their different cities, and said, anybody thirsty? Anybody thirsty? Let him come unto me. Let him
come unto me and drink. Let Him come to me and find refreshment. Let Him come to me and find relief.
Find in me all of salvation." What a glorious and comforting
statement the Lord makes. Anybody thirsty? Come. Come. Come. You know who these
words are comforting unto? Those who are thirsty. Those who are in need of mercy.
Mercy beggars. The Lord said, come. You have
need? Come. Do you have need of righteousness? Come. Do you have need of salvation? Come. Do you have need of pardon?
The Lord said, don't stay away. Don't go to the loft. Come to
me. Come to me. You remember this
scripture in Matthew 5? Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. They shall be filled. Are you hungry? Have you tasted
that the Lord is gracious? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? You remember this scripture?
Turn back a couple pages. John chapter 6 verse 35. Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
The Lord said unto them, John 6 verse 35, He said, I am the
bread of life. You hungry? He that cometh to
me shall never hunger. Satisfied. He that believeth
on me shall never thirst again. In him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life in Christ Jesus. Now, verse 37. of John
chapter 7 on that last day of this most religious feast day. These folks came to Jerusalem
because they were commanded to. They came to Jerusalem to observe
this feast day. These folks came to Jerusalem
empty. They came to Jerusalem, to Jerusalem
not knowing the truth of salvation. They came to Jerusalem, to the
ceremony, to the traditions of men, void of spiritual life. Dead in their sin. Going about
all the religious commotion. For eight days they were observing
these religious feasts. I'm sure they had a big time.
I'm sure there were a lot of things going on. getting acquainted,
making new acquaintances. And as they were getting ready
to break camp, because they were to pitch a booth or a tent to
observe this Feast of the Tent or Feast of Tabernacle, as they
were getting ready to leave and go back home, just as empty as
they came, just as dead as they came, just as religious as they
were without salvation, They came empty in that condition,
without God, without hope, and without Christ, guilty before
God, and they're getting ready to turn around and go back home.
Same way they came. Empty, dead, lifeless, godless,
without hope, and without Christ. That's all of us by nature. Without
God, without hope, without life, and without Christ Jesus. Somebody
stood in the way. Somebody stood up as they were
breaking camp and getting ready to leave the temple ground. Somebody
stood up. The God-man mediator, Son of
God with God's message, stood up and said, Hey! He cried out. Can you imagine the thunder of
his voice? The majesty of his voice? As
he thundered in such a thundering voice that caught their attention,
he cried out as he stood up and said, if any man is thirsty,
let him come to me and drink." The Lord stood up and cried out,
if anybody needs mercy, forgiveness, pardon, salvation, anybody thirsty
for the water of life, he said, come. Come to me and drink."
You see, salvation, my friend, is in Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Salvation is in a person. Christ
is a water of life that every thirsty sinner must have. This is a must-have. This is
what every thirsty sinner desires in his heart to have. I must have Him. Now, let's look at several things
here from verse 37 and verse 38. The Lord says, first of all,
if any man. You see that? If any man. Anyone. Anybody. Any man. Pretty wide open, isn't it? Anybody. Any man. You see, the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not for everybody. He didn't die for everybody,
but it's for anybody. Anybody. He didn't die for everybody. The Lord laid down His life for
the sheep, but the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is for
anybody in need of mercy. In need of mercy. You see, grace
is for the guilty. Mercy is for the miserable. Salvation
is for sinners. Sinners taught of God. You remember
what our Lord said, all those who have heard and learned of
the Father, what do they do? They come to Christ, don't they?
They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're going to see in a minute
what coming to Christ really means and what it's all about.
Our Lord said, if anybody has need, anybody sees his need of
the Lord Jesus Christ, any sinner, come to me. Come to me." Now
listen to these scriptures. Our Lord said, I didn't come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Anybody a sinner?
I tell you what, I've not found many of them. Everybody's where
I used to be. Anybody a sinner? I got good
news. Come to Christ. You see, He came
to save, not the righteous. He came to call sinners unto
Himself. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which is lost. Say, well, everybody's lost.
No, they don't think they are. I think they're, well, you know,
I made a profession. I had a feeling. I had an experience. Oh, they have religion up to
here, but they're without Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. I'm the chief one. Can you say that of yourself? That's easy to say, well, those
other fellows, they're really depraved. I believe in total
depravity because that man's an example of it. Right here's
an example. You really don't believe in total
depravity unless you point that finger right at your own heart
and say, I'm the guilty one. But you know the good news of
the gospel is the Lord Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. He justified the ungodly. Any man thirsty? See what he's
saying there? Any man thirsty? Here's the second
point. If any man thirsts, Thirst. Thirst. What is thirst? Well,
it's a need, isn't it? It's a need. It's a condition. It's a desire. Thirst. Of course here he's not
talking about a natural thirst. We all understand the concept
of when you're thirsty naturally, what do you do? Well, you reach
for a bottle of water to quench the thirst. He's not talking
here about natural thirst. Everybody has that kind of thirst.
Everyone is thirsty in that sense, nor is he talking about the sinful
thirst to drink iniquity like the water. Everybody has that
thirst by nature, to drink iniquity like we would drink water. But
he's talking here about that special God-given thirst. that God-given desire for the
spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, just not for the blessings,
but for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in whom is the blesser. All blessings are found in Him.
You see, this kind of thirst can only be quenched by Christ
Himself, the water of life. The guilt of sin can only be
removed by the living fountains. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. If you like that thief, rejoice
to see that fountain, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses
us from all sin. This thirst that's created by
God the Holy Spirit in convicting us of sin, this thirst of faith
can only be quenched by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Anybody thirsty? Drink, drink. I'll give you some examples of
those who were made thirsty. David was given this thirst.
David, the king of Israel. Turn back to Psalm 42. Psalm 42. We've been studying
through the book of Psalms the last couple of years. This Wednesday
evening we'll be considering Psalm 145. But you remember all the way
back to Psalm 42? A hundred and some Psalms back. Surely you remember this, don't
you? Psalm 42, verse 1, "...as the heart, as the deer panteth
after the waterbrook, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God?" You see that desire? David said, it's like a little
deer that's been chased over the hills by the hunting dogs,
and he's panting and panting and desiring that cool brook,
that cool water. David said, I thirst like that
deer that is so thirsty. David was given that thirst.
Old Saul of Tarsus. who was later, after conversion,
known as the Apostle Paul, at one time he had the thirst of
blood, didn't he? He breathed out slaughter against
the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had a thirst for iniquity,
didn't he? Although he thought he was most
religious. And yet, when he was knocked off his high horse and
put in the dust, God gave him that spiritual thirst. Remember what he said when the
Lord unhorsed him, convicted him? He said, Lord, what will
you have me to do? I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty. And
we find him in that same chapter in Acts chapter 9. A little later
on, he's preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the folks said, how can this be? Here he was one time, came
to Damascus to persecute us. Now he's preaching the one. whom
he one time hated. What happened? God gave him a
thirst for the true and living God. Anybody convicted by God,
the Holy Spirit, is given what I call this violent thirst. This violent thirst for Christ. That is, they must have the Lord
Jesus Christ at all expense. He's the water of life. Let me
show you scripture. Turn over to Matthew 11. Matthew
11, and hold your finger there. Matthew 11, because I want to
come back there in just a moment or two, or put a marker there
in Matthew 11. Look what the Lord says here
in Matthew 11, verse 12. Matthew 11, verse 12. From the
days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffered
violence. Suffered violence. And the violent
take it. They take it by force. What's
he saying here? They violently love the Lord
Jesus Christ and they must have Him. Give me Christ or else I
die. You see what he's saying there?
Now put a marker there in Matthew 11 because we're going to turn
back in just a minute. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled. Do you have that thirst? I'm
not talking about, are you religious? Everybody's religious. Do you
have that thirst? I'm not talking about some religious
feeling you had in the past. Everybody has religious experiences.
Feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. I'm
talking about this thirst in your heart for the Lord Jesus
Christ. You must have Him. You must be united and made one
with Him. Now, what does the Lord say? Look back at John 7, 37. If any
man, if any man thirst, what does it say? Let him come
unto me. Now, is that complicated? It's
not complicated, is it? Let him come unto me. Let him
come unto me. Let Him, that thirsty man, that
guilty sinner, that hungry man, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'm
the remedy. You see, He preached ruin, didn't
He? And He preached the remedy Himself,
Christ Himself. Let Him come to me. You know,
no prophet in the Old Testament ever spoke this way. Isaiah didn't
say, sinner, come to Isaiah. Jeremiah never did say, I'm Jeremiah,
you need to come to me, I'll take care of your sins. No prophet
ever spoke that way. Ezekiel would never say, well
sinner, come to Ezekiel. Every prophet of the Old Testament
gave witness to Christ. And the last of the Old Testament
prophets, John the Baptist, what was his message? Remember they
came to him and they said, are you the Christ? No, no, no. I'm sent to bear witness of the
Christ. Behold the Lamb of God. You see, we point sinners to
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only one that can preach Himself. He is salvation. He is the Savior. All the apostles and prophets
of the past all pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ as all of salvation. You remember Peter and John.
When they healed that man who was a cripple in the temple,
and the same religious crowd got all upset, and they said,
as they arrested them and questioned them, by what power and by what
authority did you make this cripple to walk? Instead of saying, well,
thank God for that mercy. And Peter and John said, be it
known unto you that this crippled man is made whole by the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and furthermore, and furthermore,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
You see, those who are sin of God always point sinners to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Get a hold of this. Our Lord
said, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me. Now my friend,
this is not a mere invitation. A king doesn't invite. A king
commands. This is not a mere invitation,
but rather a command of the Lord that every thirsty man come to
Him and drink. Not to the law, It'll only curse
you. Not to the pool, you baptize
yourself. I told someone the other day,
I've been baptized 300 times. I said, man, 300 times? Well, where I grew up in Mormonism,
you were baptized for the dead over and over and over and over
and over again. You can be baptized over and
over. The Lord said, not to the pool,
not to the law, Not to the front of the church. Not to the mourner's
bench. Come to me. Come to me and drink. Ho, everyone that is thirsty.
Remember Isaiah? Ho, everyone that is thirsty,
come ye to the waters. Come, come, come, come. Now,
I told you to hold Matthew 11. Did you hold it? Turn back over
there, Matthew 11. Look what he says here. Matthew
11. Come to Christ. Come to Christ.
That's the message of the Scripture. Come to Christ. Matthew 11, 25. The Lord answered and said, I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. pleasing all things are delivered unto me of the Father,
and no man knoweth the Son but the Father, neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him." Now, verse 28, come to me. That's the message
of Scripture. Come to me. Come to Christ, all
you that are thirsty, labor, heavy laden, thirsty. What does
the Lord say? I will give you, give you, give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me. I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest
for your soul. For my yoke is easy, and my burden
is light." Anybody thirsty? Now look back at John chapter
7, and let me show you something here. Find John 7, put a marker
there, and turn back to John chapter 4 a minute. I said earlier,
a moment ago, the king doesn't invite, he commands sinners to
come to him. Come to me and drink. You're
laboring and heavy laden." He said, come to me and I'll give
you rest. I want to show you something here. You remember
the woman at the well that we met in John chapter 4? Remember
the Lord said, I must need to go through Samaria? And He told
her that He is the water of life? But look at verse 21. I just
saw this the other day. The Lord said unto her, Woman,
believe me." Did she have a choice in this
matter? It was His command. Woman, believe me. And she did. She did, remember? Verse 25, the woman saith unto
him, I know that Messiah cometh which is called the Christ. When
He is come, He'll tell us all things. And the Lord said, I
that speak to thee am He. And then the woman, verse 28,
left her water pot and went her way into the city, and said to
the men, Come and see a man which told me all things that ever
I did is not this the Christ. You see what he did to her? He
created a thirst in her and then quenched it with himself. I that
speak to thee am he. Anybody thirsty, come to me and
drink. Come. Come. Look back at the
text again. Come. Come to Christ. What is it to believe? What is
it to come to Christ? It's to believe on Him. And to believe on Him is to come
to Him. There's no other way of obtaining
peace and salvation than by casting your soul upon the Lord Jesus
Christ. By faith. We come to Him by faith. Believing Him is coming to Him.
Coming to Him is believing Him. Being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
this believing Him and coming to Him, you know what's the evidence
of? This coming to the Lord Jesus Christ is the evidence of His
electing grace. Look back at John chapter 6,
verse 37. It's the evidence of electing
grace, is it not? All the Father giveth me, they
shall come to me. It is the evidence of election,
isn't it? And him that cometh to me, I
will and know wise cast out. Turn over here to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. It's the evidence, this coming
to Christ, this believing Him, is the evidence of God choosing
us and drawing us. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1,
Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. For our gospel
came not unto you in word only, but also in power, the Holy Ghost,
and much assurance. The gospel came in word, but
in power. And they became followers of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's the evidence, this
coming to Christ, this believing on Him is the evidence of election.
Secondly, it is the evidence of grace and life already given. It's the evidence of regeneration. God making us new creatures. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Except a man is born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. We don't believe to be born,
we believe because we have been begotten of God. Now listen to
me carefully. This coming to Christ is not
something physical. This coming to Christ is not
the moving of the feet. It's not the moving of the body.
This coming to the Lord Jesus Christ is a spiritual act of
the heart by God-given faith. It's looking unto Him who's the
author and finisher of our faith. What does it mean to come to
Christ and how do I come? Now listen to this. This will
help you. It helped me. Coming to Christ
implies that I've left everything else behind. That's what it means. Get a hold of that now. Coming
to the Lord Jesus Christ means I've left everything else in
the background. All false hope, all false refuge,
all false gospels, all false gods, all my former idolatry,
I've left it back there where it belongs. Coming to Christ implies I've
left everything else and I'm looking to Him. I'm not looking
back. Now listen to this. Coming to
Christ involves true repentance. You know what that is? Leaving
everything behind. And faith, you know what that
is? Coming to Him. So there's a leaving and there's
a coming. To come to the Lord Jesus Christ
is to leave everything else in the dust, in the background,
counted as dung and rubbish, and be done with it, and looking
to Him. That's faith and repentance.
Faith, repentance toward God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, let me show you. Let me show you that in Scripture.
Coming to Christ is leaving everything else behind and looking to Him.
That's faith and repentance. Repentance and faith. Let me
show you. Now, 1 Thessalonians again. I should have told you
to put a marker there. 1 Thessalonians again, this time
chapter 9, or verse 9. Chapter 1, verse 9. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1, verse 9. You see, True repentance is a
turning. It's a leaving behind and looking
forward to Him. Now, look what it says here.
1 Thessalonians 1, chapter 1, verse 9. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, how you turn
to God from your idols to serve the living and true God. Faith
and repentance. Leaving behind and looking unto
the Lord Jesus now turn back just a few pages Philippians
chapter 3. Here's another Scripture that'll
help us on this Verse 13 Philippians 3 verse 13, of course, you know
what verse 9 says That I may win Christ and be found in him
and then look what he says in verse 13 and verse 14 brethren.
I I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing
I do, forgetting those things which are behind." Forget them. The old Saul of Tarsus, boy,
he had a lot of religious baggage, didn't he? Don't you know he
was glad to leave everything in the past? Forgetting those
things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before. Coming to Christ is leaving everything
in the background and coming to Him, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I hope
I made that clear. It involves coming to Christ
implies that we've left everything else behind and we're coming
to Him alone. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've
committed unto him in that day. Now, John 7, verse 37, one more
time. If any man thirst, let him come
unto me, and do what? Drink. Drink. Drink. Drink. You know, water
is always put forth in Scripture as a type of salvation. Because
water is something that everyone must have. I bet every one of
you here today, this morning, I bet every one of you here did
one thing. You drank some water, didn't you? You drank something
liquid this morning. I know you did. You say, well,
I had coffee. Yeah? What did you make it with? Water. Water is what everyone
must have. We cannot live without water.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the water of life. There is
no salvation apart from Him. Now, the woman at the well, you
remember what she said? Lord, give me to drink that water.
Let's turn back and read that. He said, if you knew the gift
of God. John chapter 4, Luke verse 10. If you knew the gift
of God, And who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldst ask of him, and he would have given thee the
living water. John 4, 11. The woman said to
him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with in the well as deep
from whence then hast thou this living water. Art thou, listen
to this, are you greater than our father Jacob? Wow, he's a
God of Jacob. Which gave us the well and drink
of himself and his children and his cattle. And the Lord said
to her, Whosoever drinketh of this water 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." Come
and drink. Come and drink. Now, think about
this. Everything we drink has water
in it. Everything we drink has water
in it. Milk has water in it. Pop, soda pop, has water in it. Coffee has water in it. The first thing I do when I come
over here in the morning, when I come to work, I make coffee. And the first thing I do, I fill
the coffee pot up with water. You would think I was strange
if I made coffee without water. and try to sit in there and drink
the coffee grounds. I mean, the coffee grounds, the
grounded up coffee would do me, it would be unpleasant, wouldn't
it? I couldn't get it down. I couldn't swallow it. It would
be nauseating. I can't drink coffee without
water. I must have water. Water makes
the coffee, what? Enjoyable. Doesn't it? Water
makes the coffee pleasant. You remember that old Maxwell
House commercial? Good to the last drop. Water
makes coffee pleasant. Now, you know where I'm going
with this. Christ, the water of life, makes everything in
the gospel pleasant. Election? He makes it pleasant. Redemption? He makes it pleasant. It's refreshing. He's the Redeemer. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is pleasant and refreshing and enjoyable because He's the
water of life. He makes us to drink of Him. He's altogether lovely to you
who believe He is precious. I think of that Proverb 25, verse
25. As cold waters to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country." Water! Oh, it makes the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ pleasant and refreshing, doesn't it? Look
at verse 38 now. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture had said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living,
living water. He that believeth He that cometh,
as the scripture had said, shall have within him a never-ending
well, rivers of living water, abundant overflowing, supplies
of mercy and grace to help in time of need. Christ in you is
the hope of glory." You remember from Isaiah 12, I had it in the
bulletin last week, therefore, with joy shall you draw water
out of the wells of salvation. He that believeth on Me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Christ in you, the hope of glory. I come to Christ out of need. I come to Christ out of love. I come to Christ because I've
been drawn unto Him as a thirsty sinner. I come to Christ because
Well, there's just nowhere else to go. Remember what Peter said
in John 6, verse 67, the Lord said, Peter, will you also go
away? Simon Peter answered and said, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. We believe and we're sure
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. There's nowhere
else to go. You're it. You have the words.
You have what we need. Nowhere else to go for pardon.
Nowhere else to go for salvation, peace, life. My thirst of faith
is only quenched by Christ's living water. One more time,
look at verse 37. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. God help us to drink of him. If you ever have, you never will
stop drinking of Christ. You see, we tasted that the Lord
is gracious. To whom coming? To whom coming? We come to Him. It's an ever
ongoing process. We come to Christ, look to Him,
believe on Him.