Let Him Come to Me

Now let's turn to John 7, and
let me read my text again. The beauty of this text renders
the speaker almost speechless. The magnificence of it, the power
of it. I want you to listen. carefully
to it. John 7, 37, in the last day,
that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. A little over
a year ago I preached on this text, and I made this observation
There are four things that are necessary to understanding the
glorious invitation which our Lord extends in this verse. There are four things that are
absolutely essential. If you're going to get the power
and the beauty and the greatness of this text and this invitation,
you've got to understand four things. Now, number one, the
place where he said it. The place is Jerusalem, the capital
of religion. The place is Jerusalem, the stronghold
of ritualism and ceremonialism. The place is Jerusalem, the capital
of the law. The place is Jerusalem, the home
of the temple, where the priests live, where the sacrifices were
made, where the day of atonement was observed. where the high
priest once a year went into the Holy of Holies with the blood
sacrifice. It was Jerusalem, the home of
the Bible scholars. It was Jerusalem, the home of
the theologians. It was Jerusalem, the place where
people went to learn about God. Now that's the place where it
was said, Jerusalem. Religion was knee-deep. Religion
ran through the streets. Religion was the topic of conversation. This was the capital of religion. This was what they called the
Holy City. Now, secondly, the occasion.
First of all, we note the place where it was said, Jerusalem.
Secondly, the occasion. This was the feast day. This
was one of the most important religious feasts that the Jews
held. It was the Feast of the Tabernacles.
It was a feast in which every Jew, according to the law, went
to the temple and went through all of the ritualisms and ceremonies
and rites that were laid down for many, many centuries. They
went through all of these rituals, all of these religious ceremonies. This was the Feast of the Tabernacle,
and people had come from everywhere. They had come from many, many
miles. They had saved money for months
to make this trip to observe the Feast of the Tabernacle.
All of the theologians and the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes
and priests were decked out in all of their religious finery.
and their uniforms of religion. And the people met for several
days, and they observed all that Moses commanded them to observe. They went through the paces,
they went through the rituals, they kept all the ceremonies,
and they did according to the law. Now thirdly, it was at Jerusalem
The occasion was one of the most important religious feasts ever
commanded by God in the Old Testament, the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Thirdly, it was the last day of the feast. The people had
been there for several days. The ceremonies were all over. I don't know where Christ was
standing, probably on the porch of the temple, and He was watching
these people. and they were packing up, getting
ready to leave. The last ceremony was over. The water from the Pool of Solomon
had been poured on the altar. They had come with great expectancy. They had come from many, many
miles. They had come to learn about
God. They had come to observe their
commanded ceremonies. They had come to offer their
sacrifices. They had come to listen to the
Pharisees. Listen to the Bible scholars
and the Bible teachers that come to sit there and listen to what
these men had to say. They'd come seeking a profit
and a word from God. Now they were packing up and
going home. The ceremonies were over. The
feast was over. This was the last day. Nothing
to do now but go home. No life, no message, no assurance,
no satisfaction. No God, no hope. No forgiveness,
no pardon. Some man had come there seeking
God, and he found him not. And as he was packing all of
his belongings and getting his children and wife and family
together, perhaps he was saying, well, I'll come back next year,
maybe next year. I've come all these years, and
I've received nothing. I've learned nothing. I've not
heard from God, and I'm going home. Maybe God will speak next
year. Maybe God will have something
for us next year. I'm so disappointed in the ceremonies. I'm so disappointed in the priest. I'm so disappointed in the leaders. I'm so disappointed in the Pharisee."
It was the last time, the last day, the last hour. Now, what's
the fourth thing? The speaker is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The speaker is the Christ of
whom Moses wrote. He was in the world, and the
world was made by him, and the world knew him not. This was
the Son of God, that prophet of whom Moses wrote when he said,
God will send thee prophet, and him you shall hear. The Christ
will come out of Bethlehem. There was a division here among
the people because they thought Christ Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth,
had come out of Galilee, but he was born in Bethlehem. But
anyway, here was the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the King of
Kings, the Creator of all things. Here was God Himself, who knew
all men. He knew their thoughts. He watched
them. And He knew they'd gotten nothing
from their dead teachers. He knew that their sacrifices
and ceremonies had come to have no meaning. Back here in the
Old Testament, they'd come to have no meaning. For God said
here in Isaiah chapter 1, verse 11, to what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices to me? I am full of your burnt offerings. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before
me, who hath required at your hand to tread my courts? Bring
no more vain oblations, incenses, and abomination to me. Your new
moons and your Sabbaths and your calling of assemblies and your
feast. I cannot away with it. It is
iniquity, even your solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed
feast my soul hates. They are trouble unto me. I am
weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your
hands, I will hide my eyes from you. When you make many prayers,
I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood."
Christ stood there and watched these people, sad, empty, in
the gall of bitterness. He saw them trying to get to
God through their religious work. He saw them trying to get to
God through their ceremonies, and he saw their disappointment.
He saw the blind leading the blind, and all of them falling
into the ditch. They were like the woman who
was sick and had spent all she had on false positions and were
no better. They were like just running about
with no leader, with no direction, with no goal, with no object,
with no faith. And that's when he stood there,
and he cried, the Scripture says here, he cried, if any man thirsts. I expect he got their attention
then, because he was talking a language which they understood.
Christ is only valued where there is need, if any man thirsts.
If any man thirsts. Christ said, Come unto me, all
ye that labor, and are heavy laden. Come, let us reason together,
though your sins be a scarlet. If any man hunger, let him come
to me. Oh, every one that thirsteth,
come to the water." What is this thirst of which Christ is speaking?
It's the thirst that these people knew something about. What is
this thirst? First of all, it's to see the
value of my eternal soul. I have but one. The Bible said,
what shall it profit me if I gain the whole world and lose that
one soul? What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? I have but one. And that thirst
of which Christ speaks here is to see the value of my soul. My soul will live always. And
because of sin, my soul is in danger of eternal ruin, of eternal
damnation. And my soul thirsts for the living
God. It thirsts for pardon, it thirsts
for forgiveness, it thirsts for fellowship, it thirsts for communion
with God. That's the thirst of which he's
speaking. Anybody thirsty, what is that
thirst? It's the burden of unforgiven
sin on my heart. It's to know that I've sinned
against God and continue to sin, and daily sin, and I have no
remedy, and I have no pardon, and I have no mercy. And I have
no forgiveness. That's the thirst. What is this
thirst? It's to know that I'm dying,
that my body's dying, and destined to me, and holy God, destined
to stand before God in judgment, unprepared. My sins will be there
to face me. What is this thirst? It's to
go through all the forms of religion and listen to all the empty words
of religion. is to hear men talk, and to hear
men sing, and to hear men pray, and to hear men testify, and
to hear men confess, and to hear the confusion of voices, and
still not hear God, and still have an aching, empty heart,
and not to feel the presence and power of the living God.
That's what these people had here. They'd come to the feast.
They'd gone through all of the motions. And the feast was over,
and it was the last day, and they were packing up and going
home, and it's as if they hadn't even come. They might as well
not have come, because they didn't meet God, and their religion
was nothing but form and ceremony and entertainment and a means
for somebody to make a living. What is this thirst? It's to
want pardon and not have it. It's to want peace and not have
it. It's to walk through dry places and find no rest. How tedious and tasteless the
hours, John Newton said, when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet prospects, sweet birds
and sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness for me. The midsummer
sun shines, but dim. The fields strive in vain to
look gay. When I'm happy and healed, December
would be pleasant as May. If any man thirsts for pardon,
thirsts for peace, thirsts for God, listen to the scripture
I read this morning, Psalms 42. Here it is. As the heart panteth
after the water brooks, a weary, hot, dry, thirsty deer, panteth
after the running crystal clear cooling stream, so panteth my
thirsty soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for
the living God, not for the rituals of religion, not for the words
of religion, not for the doctrines and laws and rules of religion,
but for the living God. When shall I come and appear
before God? My tears have been my meat, day
and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is your God?
Where is your God? Charles Spurgeon once said, It
is not when you begin to feel good that you take the first
steps home. It's when you begin to feel bad. The prodigal son, weary, tired,
hungry and homesick, said, I'll return to my father. It wasn't while he was engaged
in righteous living. It wasn't while he was wasting
his substance on evil practices and passions. It's when he became
hungry, when he became tired, when he became weary, he said,
I'll go home. Let him who knows something of
spiritual thirst be not ashamed. But let him look up, for his
redemption draweth nigh. Who taught you that you were
naked? Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to thee, but my Father.
Who taught thee that thou wast miserable, and poor, and wretched,
and blind? Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father. Who opened your eyes to your
guilt while the whole world was saying, We be not sinners, we
be not sinners. It was not flesh and blood, but
my Father. Who makes your heart to weep
because you're guilty? Flesh and blood didn't reveal
your sin, but, my Father, it is the Spirit that convinces
of sin. If you feel ashamed of your guilt
and ashamed of your sin, and you thirst for the living God,
be not ashamed. But look up, your redemption
draweth nigh. You're nearer to God than you
suppose. When you thirst, Christ started
it off that way. In that last day of the feast,
he stopped them before they walked away and said, if any man thirsts, well, I'm not thirsty, well,
I'm not talking to you. If any man thirsts, well, I'm
not hungry, I'm finding all my satisfaction from the cisterns
of the world and from the table of the world, well, I'm not talking
to you. But if Christ can find somebody weary and heavy laden
and despondent, and tired, and ashamed, and guilty, and seeking
communion with the living God, if he's thirsty, then listen
to the next word. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me. Let him come to me. Now, no prophet
ever used language like that. Moses said to his father-in-law,
come with us, we'll do thee good. Join with us. We're going to
walk with God. We're going to have the fellowship
with the Father. We're going to a land that floweth
with milk and honey. Come go with us. We'll do thee
good. Isaiah said, Come to the water. But Christ said, Come
to me. No prophet ever said that. Christ
said, Come to me. No apostle ever used language
like that. John the Baptist said, There's
the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Philip
findeth Nathanael. or Peter, and said, Come, we
found the Christ, let us show him to you. But no apostle ever
said, Come to me. Christ said, Come to me. If any
man thirst, let him come to me. No law can make such claim, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. So no church can offer such
benefit, for God added to the church those that were saved.
Mary said, My soul rejoiceth in God my Savior. She never said,
Come to me. But Christ stood there and said,
Anybody got an eternal soul you're worried about? Anybody here have
sins recorded against you, you're concerned about them? Anybody
here recognize that death is approaching you and judgment
is awaiting you and eternity will keep you and you're disturbed
about your relationship with God and you're hungry and thirsty
and weary and heavy laden? You come to me. I am the water
of life. And you drink of this water and
you'll never thirst again. You can go back to the church
every Lord's Day and come away just as empty as when you went. But you come to me, you'll never
thirst. You can go to your resolutions and your decisions and your experiences
and your feelings and your prayers and your ordinances and come
away just as empty as when you went. But you come to me and
you'll never thirst again. I'm the bread of life. You eat
of me and you shall never hunger. I'm the light. You follow me
and you'll never walk in darkness. You come to me. You come to me. Now, brethren, we must not stop. And I want you to listen very
carefully. I've given some thought to these next few statements.
We must not stop with the associates of Christ. We must not feel because
we are numbered with the associates of Christ, with the ministers
of Christ, or with the people of Christ, or with the disciples
of Christ, we must not imagine that because we are part of their
number that we are one with Christ. was a member of the early church. Judas was an officer in that
church, and Judas was a companion of the eleven chosen apostles,
but he did not know the Lord. And Jesus Christ, our Lord, preached
one of the shortest sermons that has ever been preached. He said
three words, Remember Lot's wife. She was the wife of a righteous
man. She was a woman who observed
and lived with Abraham. and all of his family. She was a woman who saw the power
of God in striking a whole mass of people blind, who saw the
angels of God lead her and her husband and two daughters out
of Sodom, but her heart never left that place. So do not stop
only with the associates of Christ. I'm a member of the Baptist Church.
I'm a member of the Methodist Church. I'm a member of the Presbyterian
Church. I'm a preacher. I'm a deacon,
I'm a Sunday school teacher, I'm an officer in the church.
All of these things can be duplicated by unsaved men and women, and
we have examples of such in the Word of God. Secondly, we must
not stop with the ordinances of Christ. Well, I've been baptized,
I've been to the Lord's table. Simon Magus was also baptized,
and just a few hours later heard the Apostle Peter say to him,
your heart is not right with God. Many are the people who are baptized
who will be in hell. We must not stop with the moral
laws. The Pharisees did this. They
had the laws of God even written on their broad blue hems of their
robes and garments. They carried the scroll and read
the law of God on the street, and yet Christ said they were
a generation of vipers, and they were the fathers of snakes. We must not stop with the doctrines.
Saul of Tarsus was a doctrinalist. Saul of Tarsus was a legalist.
Saul of Tarsus was a man who studied the Bible and did not
know the God of the Bible. We must come to Christ. Our Lord
Jesus Christ said, if any man thirsts, if you have a weary,
hungry, thirsty soul, come to me. Don't stop with the church. Don't stop with the ordinances.
Don't stop with the moral laws. Don't stop with the doctrines.
Come to Me. Come to Me. Come to the Christ
of the manger and be identified with Him who was bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. Do you know something about the
Christ of the manger? The Scripture tells us that He
took our nature. He took the likeness of sinful
flesh. He came into this world as a
man in order that he might obey for us the law of God and obey
for us all of the commandments of God, in order that he might
impute unto us a perfect righteousness and give us a righteous standing
as men before God. Do you know something about the
babe of Bethlehem's manger? That's where he started. That's
where you started your route of sin. And that's where he started
his route of holiness as a man. Simeon held that child in his
arms and he said, I've seen God's salvation. Here he is. We must come to the Christ of
the cross and be identified with him in his death. Do you see
Christ hanging on the cross as an example or a substitute? Do you see Christ hanging on
the cross as a martyr or as a sacrifice? Do you see Christ hanging on
the cross for a world in general, or do you see Christ hanging
on the cross for you in particular? Do you see Christ hanging on
the cross because He failed, or do you see Christ hanging
on the cross in order to succeed? Do you see Christ hanging on
the cross to make it possible for you to save yourself, or
do you see Christ hanging on the cross to make it dead certain
that God in mercy can deal with you in grace and still be just
to his righteousness and truth and law? What do you see in the
cross? What is it to all you who pass
by, the Scripture says? The Roman soldier saw a defeated
religionist. The Pharisee saw a dead, crucified
enemy. The disciple saw a departing
friend. Mary saw a dying son. I see by the grace of God, my
substitute, bearing my sins in his body on the tree and hanging
in my place, that I might go free. Is that what you see? Come
to me. Come to the Christ of the manger,
who was identified with us in the flesh. Come to the Christ
of the cross, who was identified with us in death. Come to the
Christ of the tomb, who was identified with us as our scapegoat, bearing
away our sin, going into the grave and coming out again, that
we might have no fear of death and fear of the grave." There
was a preacher, a very eloquent preacher down in Texas, I heard
while I was down there. And he prayed one of the most
beautiful prayers I've ever heard. He was an old, white-haired,
Negro preacher. And he was preaching on the radio.
And when I sat just fell down and listened to him that Sunday
morning, he knew the Lord. I feel sure that he did. And
he started off his prayer, he said, Master, I like that, Master,
Master, we pray for thy presence and thy power. upon us as we
try to preach the word. He went on, he said, Lord, bless
those who are in prison. We don't ask that you go there,
for you are everywhere. And he went on and prayed like
that, but then he gave an illustration. And he said that the mother rabbit
and the two baby rabbits were looking for a place to stay.
They were looking for a home. They were looking for a hole
that they might go in and make a nest and live there and protect
it. Their home had been destroyed.
They were looking for another place. And they came, they were
walking along, they came to a hole under a rock. And one of the
little rabbits told his mother, he said, Now there's a good place
to hide. She said, No, don't go in there. And he said, Why
not? She said, Because there are footprints
leading in, but no footprints coming out. And there's something
in there that'll get you, because he's never come out. And he said,
I'm not afraid of the tomb, because there's footprints going in,
my Lord's footprints. But he said, praise God, they
came out too. His footprints not only went
into the tomb, but they walked out. And he said, because I live,
you shall live. So come to the Christ of the
open tomb and be identified with him in the resurrection. Come
to the Christ of the throne. He reigns as our high priest. He carries our names on his breastplate. They're on the palms of his hands.
And every time he prays and pleads his blood and stripes and navel
prints, he calls our names. He said to Peter, I prayed for
you. I prayed for you. Come to the Christ of mercy and
love and be identified with Him in your daily life. If any man's
thirsty, let him come to me. And don't stop with my associates.
Don't stop with my moral laws. Don't stop with my doctrines.
Don't stop with these other things. You come to me. You come to me
as the Christ of the manger, the Christ of the cross, the
Christ of the tomb, the Christ of the throne. and the Christ
of mercy, and the Christ of love, and the Christ of grace. Now
look at the next line. Here's the promise. And he that
believeth on me, he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath
said, out of his innermost being, out of the depths of his person.
It's not just going to be a handshake affair. It's not going to be
just a name recorded alphabetically with an address on the church
roll book. It's not going to be just a cross
that you wear on a lapel, or that you dangle from a chain
on your Bible. It's not going to be just a statue
that you put up on the dashboard of your car, or some beads that
you wear around your neck. He that believes on me, he's
going to have an experience that in his innermost being, in the
depths of his secret soul, in the very depths of his inner
man, there's going to be a living stream of living water that springs
up. Those who are vitally united
to Christ in believing faith are promised an inward life and
strength that will cope with any experience of life. The thorns of life, the thorns
of the flesh, Christ says, my grace is sufficient. My grace
is sufficient. I'm not going to take away the
thorns, but I'm going to give you the grace to bear them. The
weaknesses of life? My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Paul said, when I'm weak, then
am I strong. The sins of life? If any man
sin, we have perpetually, everlastingly an advocate with the Father.
The daily services of life, without need, Christ said, you can do
nothing. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me. The needs of life, my God shall supply all your needs according
to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus. The loneliness
of life, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. The
burdens of life, cast all your cares on Him. He cares for you. And then when death comes, to
depart is to be with Christ, for he said, I go to prepare
a place for you." Now, if you stop with the ordinances, or
stop with the associates, or stop with the laws, or stop with
the doctrines, you don't have the benefit of this inner stream,
this well of living water that springs up unto everlasting life,
this well of living water that copes with any dry and thirsty
land. If you drink Christ said, you'll
never thirst again. And this He spake of the living,
powerful, eternal, creative, Holy Spirit, which they that
believe on Him, every one of them should receive. The baptism of the Holy Spirit,
the indwelling Holy Spirit, is not an experience that I receive
after I come to know Christ. It is an experience that I have
and a gift I receive when I come to know Christ. If any man have
not the Spirit of God, he is none of His. And as many as are
led by the Spirit are the sons of God. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but who walk in the Spirit." Anybody thirsty? Christ said, come to me, and
he that believeth on me out of his innermost being will be a
well of living water that will give strength and supply every
need and quiet every broken heart and always give you a living,
vital, personal communion with God who dwells in you. I and
my Father will take up our boat in him. Our Father, take the
message now and bless it to our hearts. Glorify and exalt, magnify
the grace of Thy beloved Son. Make the message a special blessing
to every person. Those who know not Christ shall
flee to Him. Those who stop short of Christ,
those who try to find comfort and hope and help in something
else or someone else, may they renounce all hope of salvation
in any other except Christ and Him crucified. Help us to do
business with our Son. Help us to close with Christ.
Help us all to seek diligently a saving interest in the Lord
of glory. Give us a personal communion
with our living Lord. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Let Him Come to Me

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