If plans go as they're supposed
to, this will be the next to the last message from the book
of Revelation. We'll finish Revelation next
Sunday night. As to where we're going after that, I'm not sure
right now. I'm still looking at the book of Romans and the
book of Job. Revelation 22, verse 17. We'll read this in conjunction
with verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is
a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water
of life freely." Let's pray. Our Father, we praise You and
thank You for Your great grace for great sinners. We thank You,
Father, that You did not leave us to ourselves. But in Your great scheme of salvation,
that you chose us before the world began unto salvation. And your Son, who struck hands
with you to be our surety, came into this world, having assumed
our sin dead, fully met every requirement, died the death that
was due us, fully satisfied your law, and redeemed us by His blood. And we're thankful, Father, that
in time you awoke us from the dead to receive faith, to believe the gospel. We thank
you, Father, that you sent someone our way to tell us the truth. And, Father, we pray tonight
that as we look at this passage of that our hearts might be warm
toward Thee. We might love You supremely and
love each other too. And be thankful that You have
counted us to be among that people who can say with hearts rejoicing,
even so come Lord Jesus. Help us now to worship You in
spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's holy and
precious name. Amen. Now, tonight's message will be,
at least by way of introduction, on two words that are found in
this passage of Scripture in verse 17. And these two words
are, whosoever will. Whosoever will. Now, in this
passage, these two words are, are here for us, and they are
a proverbial blunt force instrument that in the hand of religion
is ineffectually employed to bludgeon the doctrines of substitution,
sovereignty, original sin, total depravity, unconditional election,
predestination, effectual call, and preservation of the saints.
These two words, in the hands of religion, they believe, can
destroy all those doctrines that I have just spoken of in that
one sentence. I cannot tell the number of times
that I have mentioned, or after I have mentioned election in
a conversation or a message, that the immediate response,
the supposed retort, is, well, I believe in whosoever will.
I believe in whosoever will." Now these two words, to the mind
of man-centered works religion, free will religion, is the be-all
and the end-all of revealed truth. When a friend of mine was almost
put on trial for preaching heresy, the church actually brought him
to a civil court and was going to put him on trial for preaching
heresy and then found out that the heresy that he was preaching
was exactly the doctrine upon which their convention was built
way back when it first started. After they had decided they shouldn't
fight anymore, they sent him a letter and said they were praying
for his ministry and that they understood and they knew he understood
too that the cardinal doctrine of the Southern Baptist Convention
was the free will of man. The cardinal doctrine, that's
the primary, premier doctrine is the free will of man. Now
this particular use of these words, since they come at the
end of Scripture, in the end of the book, men give them additional
weight. After all, in the very last chapter,
almost in the last verse, you find the words, whosoever will,
surely that must give them some great and powerful weight. It's
almost the last thing that God said to anybody in this great
book. And also, since they appear in
what seems to be an invitation or what is counted as an invitation,
they further the cause of religion to the religious mind. This means
that this is truly an effort to approach and to apply to man's
free will. Another thing that causes religion
to salivate is the way, is that this is the only time where the
term whosoever will, and it's the only time where the term
whosoever will appears to stand as an independent phrase. This
is the only place in Scripture where you find these two words
that are standing in a place where they are not immediately
joined with a verb. The only place. Now, though men
take delight in the fact that these stand alone, they tend
in their religious prattle to attach them to a number of other
things to which they are not attached in Scripture. Nowhere
else, however, in the Scripture are these two words found without
an obvious verb attached. someplace of great importance
on that. Now because these words are in
the Bible, and because men love the notion of the freedom of
their will, whosoever will has become the banner slogan of useless
religious doctrine. It's the banner slogan. Men love
to say it. But you know, with just a modicum
of thought, the concept is foolish to just come up with these two
words, whosoever will. It begs the question, Whosoever
will what? There has to be something attached
to this. Whosoever will cannot and does
not stand alone. To simply say whosoever will
and put it as doctrinal truth is not only ridiculous, it is
also grammatically incorrect. And we know the Bible is grammatically
correct. Will, when used in a sentence,
must be connected with a verb. It must be, whether declared
or understood, in order for it to stand. You see, will, when
it is connected to a verb, is an auxiliary verb. An auxiliary verb. And it's used,
when it's used with any action, it's an auxiliary verb. Now,
will can stand, the word will, or the concept of will, if it
is not preceded with the definite article the, or like the will
of God. or the will of man, that's different
than what's spoken of here, whosoever will, it's a different context
and language, or the possessive pronouns such as my will or your
will. Now when it's not preceded by
any of those things, it must be accompanied with a word denoting
action, denoting action. In our text, the word will is
connected with another word. Now it's understood, it's given,
but it's nonetheless understood. It says this, and let him that
is a thirst come and whosoever will, let him take. It is connected
with the verb take. Whosoever will take, let him
take. That's what the word means. That's
how it's connected and it must be connected that way. Our text
is understood to mean whosoever will take, let him take, or it
cannot be understood at all. These words simply cannot stand
alone. The word will, when it's attached
to such a verb, is actually like a participle. It's almost, well,
it is always in the context of Scripture, no matter where you
find it in the context attached to a verb, it is the word, the
letters I-N-G need to be added to it. Is willing. When you see the words whosoever
will, What you're seeing is whosoever is willing. Whosoever is willing. Whosoever is willing, therefore,
to take, let him take. That's a reasonable sentence.
And that's the way it's said in the original language. And
this is the case in every instance that it is thus employed in the
Word of God. The question arises, does the
Scripture teach who is or who will be willing to take the water
of life? Well, yes, it does. But it also
teaches who will not. Who will not be willing. Let's
look at a few instances in Scripture. We know this, that works religion
is not willing to take the water of life. Look back at John chapter
5 as our Lord spoke to those who believed that they had a
good standing before God based upon the works. In John chapter 5, our Lord speaks
to these men. and says to them, search the
Scriptures in verse 39, for then them ye think ye have eternal
life, and they are they which testify to me, and ye will not
come to me. They testify to me, they teach
of me, but you will not come to me. Now you can honestly say
that this glorious call for someone who is willing to take of the
water of life, these fellows wouldn't take of it. Because
they will not come to Christ. And we know Christ is the water
of life. He is the water of life. So when we're talking about taking
of the water of life, we're talking about coming to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Lord said in John 6, 37, If any man thirsts, let
him come to Me and drink. And He goes on down to say, as
we'll see in a little bit, He's talking about believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the word come or
take here means. So we know that the flesh, we
know that the religion is not willing to take of the water
of life. They will not come to Christ for life. That's what
he said. They'll come to everything else.
They've come to the scriptures. They've come to the study and
the search of scriptures. And they think because they do
that, they have. That's a proof that they have eternal life.
Folks say, well, I read my Bible. I'm glad you do. I hope you read
it some more. Hope you continue to read it until the day you
die. But searching the Scriptures, if it doesn't bring you to the
feet of Jesus Christ, you've not heard at all what the Scriptures
testify of yet. You don't know what the Scriptures
talk about. We also know that they who are in the flesh are
not willing to take of the water of life. For Romans 5 verses
5 through 8 says, They that are in the flesh do mind the things
of the flesh. And those who are in the flesh
cannot please God. cannot please God. So those who
are in the flesh, that is to say they're not spiritual people,
they've not been made alive by God Almighty through the preaching
of the Word and the giving of faith, those people are not going
to take, they're not willing to take of the water of life. We know that mercy, that mercy,
the mercy that God gives, the mercy that God shows to His people
is not obtained by anyone's will but God's. For Romans 9 says,
so it is not him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. It's God who shows mercy. So
mercy is not obtained by the will. I know people think that
a mercy is available, or that God wants to show mercy, or is
trying to show mercy, and all you have to do is will for that
to be so, to decide to take that mercy, but that's no word found
in Scripture, and it denies the whole principle of mercy. If
you're going to have mercy from someone and seek mercy from someone,
the first thing you have to do is attribute sovereignty to that
person, to give it or withhold it. That's what it is to seek
mercy. God doesn't owe man anything. Well, who then is willing? Our
Lord says, whoever is willing, whosoever is willing to take
of the water of life, let him take it freely. Freely take of it. Who is willing? Are you naturally willing? Are
you born willing? Who is willing? They are willing
who are made so by the sovereign grace of Almighty God. all of
God's people. Christ's people. Those who were
given to Christ before the world began shall be willing in the
day that He exercises His sovereign power in calling the dead to
life. The promise to the Lord Jesus
Christ in Psalm 110 and verses 2 and 3 was that God had given
Him the Gentiles to rule among them in their midst. Rule thou
in the midst of thine enemies thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. When God speaks to His elect,
they are not naturally willing. Naturally, they are the same
as every other person. But when God speaks to His elect
through this Word, with that voice of Christ, with that regeneration,
with that God-given faith and repentance comes a willingness
to have everything that God says is theirs. They want it. They
desire it. And they will have it. Our Lord
said this, God has given me authority over all flesh. And among all
that flesh, I'm going to give eternal life to as many as He
has given me. Now when He gives them eternal
life, you reckon they'll be willing to have it? I'm betting they
will. I know I was when He gave it
to me. and you know you were too. This sheds a whole lot of
light on the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing this, that
this means willingness, and it's willingness brought about by
the power of God. Let's look at a few passages
of scripture, just our Lord speaking in this term of whosoever will. Look first at Matthew chapter
16. You're familiar with all of these verses, so we're not
gonna look at about four of them very quickly. In Matthew chapter
16 and verse 25, Now the Lord says, For whosoever will save
his life shall lose it. Now what He is saying is, whosoever
is willing to save his life is going to lose it. And whosoever
is willing to lose his life for My sake shall find it. Whosoever
is willing to lose a life. For what is man profited if he
gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul? If you are willing to save your
life, If that is your desire, that is what you want. When we
say willing, that's what we're talking about. We're talking
about want, desire, choice. We're talking about if you choose
to save your life, if you want to save your life, if you want
to save your reputation, if you want to make your own way to
God, if you want to save your life, you've lost it. But if you are willing and you
want to and you desire to lose your life, Embarrassed even have
it mentioned Then you'll say you'll find that life and that
life will be the water of life the Lord Jesus Christ look at
Mark chapter 8 Mark chapter 8 Mark chapter 8 in verse 35 it
says for whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel sake the same
shall save it the same thing he says but in another place
and in another context now look at Luke chapter 9 Luke chapter
9, verse 5, our Lord said, And whosoever
will not receive you. Now here He's talking about those
who go out whom He sent out to preach the gospel. He sent them
out to go from house to house and from place to place and walk
down the streets and stand on the street corners and preach
the gospel. And some of them will be received and some of
them won't. Here's what our Lord says, Whosoever will not receive
you, that is, whosoever is not willing to receive you, When
you go out from the city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony
against them. Don't spend a whole lot of time
trying to pressure them, trying to shove Jesus Christ down their
throat. Just preach the gospel. If they don't want it, if they're
not willing to receive you. And in other places, if they
will not receive you, they will not receive me. If they're not
willing to receive you, they're not willing to receive me. So
whoever will not receive the minister of the gospel, God says
for the minister of the gospel to shake his feet, shake the
dust off his feet as a testimony against him. That simply means
walk away. Walk away. Because God's people will be
willing in the day of His power. in the day of His power. Now
many insert this word whosoever will or the word will into Scripture
where it's not needed and does not belong. Many hold that John
3.16 and other verses that say whosoever also use the word will,
but they don't. They don't. The words whosoever
believeth, however, are used eight times in the New Testament.
Whosoever believeth, eight times in the New Testament, and the
word will is not found in any of them. Now why is that? Because you've got an action
verb, you don't need, it's not talking about willingness, it's
talking about faith. Believeth is a present tense,
active verb in itself. Whosoever believeth hath eternal
life. Isn't that what John 3.14 and
John 3.16? Whosoever believeth in Him hath
eternal life. Whosoever believeth in Him shall
not perish, but shall have eternal life. Isn't that the language
throughout the Scripture? You can look this up. I won't burden
you with looking up all of these things, but every time that is
used, whosoever believeth, the word will is not there. But I've
heard people say, well, it says whosoever will believe, it doesn't
say that. It never says that. It says, whosoever believeth
hath eternal life. Over and over again. Those who
believe, Those who are believers, whoever they are, whosoever believeth,
they do so because they've been touched by grace. Would you agree
with that? If you believe tonight, how come you do? Do you come
up with it? Do you work it up? Find it under a rock? Hear it
from a bird on a tree? How did you get faith? How did
you believe? God freely of His own sovereign will gave you faith
through the preaching of the Word by His Spirit. That's how
you got it. That's the only way you get it
and everyone who gets it that way gets it for good. They get
it for good. Whosoever believes, they do so
because they've been touched by grace. Now God has given them
faith and so the matter of willingness is really moot. Think about it. If they believe, it would be
ridiculous to say that they are not willing to do so. Wouldn't
it? Wouldn't that just be stupid?
Of course. They believe. Of course they're
willing to believe. That's why they believe. But
the word will is not applied there, yet men want to put it
in there and stick it in there because they believe that whosoever
will is the cardinal doctrine of Scripture. But remember, it
doesn't even stand alone in Revelation 22. It's the only time it's ever
used that way. Now if anyone is willing to take
the water of life, it is because that is what they want to do. Would you agree with that? If
you're willing to do something, it's because you want to do something. That is, if you do it freely.
Now, you may be willing to do something and not be freely willing
to do something if that thing is pressed upon you because of
duty or because of duress or something else. You may not want
to do something, but you may feel impressed or compelled to
do something because it's the right thing to do. Now, no one
can say you freely do that. You do it. But it ain't because
you want to do it. When we're talking about willingness,
we're talking about wanting something. We're talking about desire. We're talking about even need. If you're willing to do something,
you feel like you need to do that. Feel like you need to do
that. Especially in our context here
tonight. Now those who do not want the
water of life will not take it. Isn't that right? If they're not willing, if they
don't want, they won't take it. And those who don't want it will
not will themselves to want it. Because they don't want it. The
word will is moved in that situation also. If they want water, why
would they want water? Thirsty. That's why men want
water. There are many times I bought
me one of those little water makers that's a distillery and
it makes water and it makes really good water. Tasty water. I like
it. I keep me a bottle sitting beside
the, by my chair there and I take one and set it on my dresser
at night so I have plenty of water if I have to get up at
night. But you know I don't walk by that thing every time you
give me a drink of water. You know why? Because sometimes I don't
want to drink water. But sometimes I'm thirsty, and boy do I want
that water when I'm thirsty. Why would a person want the water
of life? Because he's thirsty. How'd he get that way? He's already had something he's
been drinking since birth that has slaked his thirst. You know
what it is? Iniquity. He's been drinking iniquity as
if it were water. That's been slaking the thirst
of his nature all his life. Why would he suddenly want the
water of life? God must make him thirsty for that. Blessed
is he who hungers and thirsts after righteousness. That's a
blessing of God. To will, what does that mean?
It means to choose. We can say that word. To will
is to choose. To will is to want. It's to want. More than that, to will is to
choose what you want. It's never to choose what you
don't want. You wouldn't be willing to do that. Nobody would be willing
to choose what they don't want. Just like I said, you may do
something under duress, but it ain't free and it ain't what
you want. It ain't what you want. So the will involves affinity. and inclination, desire, and
want, it is veritably impossible to attach the concept of freedom
to any sense of predisposition. Now think about that. If you
are predisposed to do something, predisposed and are inclined,
or you have an affinity for doing something, It's impossible to
attach freedom to that because you're already predisposed to
it. You see, freedom is out here. It has nothing. Nothing moves
freedom. Freedom just has no inclination
or predisposition. It's free. It just goes and does
because it's free. We're not free. We're predisposed
from birth and we're predisposed from the new birth. And so our
choices will be based on our predisposition. They will not
be free. They will be based on our predisposition.
We will want what we will want. We will go for what we desire. And that does not mean we have
the power to do it. It simply means that's what we
want. I want to fly. I want to flap my arms and lift
my body up. Several things cause that to
be impossible. First of all, I don't have any
feathers. Secondly, my arms won't generate enough lift to lift
me up. Thirdly, I'm too heavy to do that. And fourthly, I've
got gravity working against me. All those things are working
against me, but I want to. And you can't tell me I don't
want to. And listen to me, I'm willing to, but I can't. Why? I'm not a bird. Now a bird can fly, but a bird
can't preach. See what I'm saying to you, what
you want It's what you choose. And you're willing to have that,
but that doesn't mean you have the power to perform it. God
has the power to perform what He wills. God alone has. But listen, God's will is only
limited to that. God will not do what He will
not do. God will not lie. Why? He's not willing to lie.
Why? He's not predisposed to that. His nature, if you allow
me to use that word, the nature of God is truth. So he's not
going to lie. He'll never lie. In all the world,
one of the most comforting things to me, and I found this to be
true for all the years I've been preaching the gospel, is that
God never lies. He never lied to me. He'll never
lie to you. He'll never lie to you. If you
choose what you want, then the predisposed desire nullifies
the idea of it being free. It's not. It's predisposed. The
choice is made in the realm of affinity and inclination. I always
go for what I want. And so do you. How foolish is
it to say a man who loves iniquity, drinks iniquity like water, who
despises God will suddenly choose God. He will not. He's not willing
to because he don't want to. He don't want to. The choice
is made in the realm of affinity and inclination. It is impossible
to freely choose what you do not want. It's impossible to freely choose
what you do not want. To do that would be to say, I
will do what I will not do. That just makes no sense whatsoever.
The idea of free will is foolish. It's foolish. Doesn't make any
sense at all. So, back to this passage. Long
introduction, short message, okay? So back to this passage
in Revelation 22 and verse 17. This passage, particularly this
so often misused passage, because it's quoted often by men who
don't know what it means, is spoken to the willing, isn't
it? And it's spoken to the thirsty. Whosoever is willing, whosoever
wants it, whosoever desires it. And you see there's no real restriction
here. If you want it, it's yours. But people will say, well, I
can reject it. I know you can, because you don't want it. Of
course you can reject it. You don't want it. I'll exercise
my will. It won't take it. Of course you
will. You don't want it. If you wanted it, you'd be willing
to take it. If you needed it, you'd be willing to take it.
People say, well, people need Jesus. No, they don't. God's
people do. The rest of the world don't need
Him. If they needed Him, they'd come to Him. If they needed Him,
they'd have Him. Because whatever you need, you
want. And you'll want to have it. And you're willing to take
it if you need it. If you need it. This verse here in Revelation
22, 17. is spoken. The last part is spoken
to those who are thirsty and willing. The first part is spoken
to Christ. It's divided into two sections.
The last part, Christ is speaking to His people. The first part,
God, Christ's people are speaking to Him. The last part deals with
this matter of willingness. This verse will mean something
to those whom God has made alive, given faith, and made to thirst
for Him, to those whom He has made willing in the day of His
power. So the first part of this verse is not a call to anyone
who is or anyone to be willing at all. Read the words. Our Lord says in verse 16, I,
Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. I am the root and the offspring
of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit
and the bride, hearing him say these words, looking at him enthroned,
say, Come. They say that to Christ. Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. This is a report of a declaration
of great desire that has already been seen in this great and final
chapter in this book. The words spoken by the Spirit
and the Bride and Him that heareth are spoken in response to the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 7, our Lord Jesus Christ
said these words, Behold, I come quickly. Behold, I come quickly. Then again in verse 12 He says,
Behold, I come quickly. And the response of that is simply
this. The Spirit and the Bride say,
Come! And let him that heareth say,
Come! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Even
so. It is well with my soul. Come,
Lord Jesus. That's what they're saying. Now,
He speaks the very same words and gets exactly the same response
in verse 20. Verse 20, He says, He that testifies
these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come,
Lord Jesus. Even so, come. So, these first
words are spoken in response to the fact that He says, I'm
coming. What was it says right here in the very first chapter
of this book? John said, Behold, he cometh. He's coming. And now in the very last chapter
of this book, still the same message is carried through all
this book. Behold, I'm on my way, I'm coming quickly. And
the response of the spirit and the bride, which is the spiritual
bride, the church, cries, come. And those who hear the gospel
say, come. Him that heareth the words spoken
is Him who is of God according to Scripture. The one who hears
is the one who's of God. It's God's child. Proverbs 20
and verse 12 says, The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord
gives them both. That's how you get it. The hearing
ear and the seeing eye. When our Lord talked to those
who believed that their works would set them in a right standing
before God, He said in John chapter 8 and verse 47, You don't hear
Me, because you're not of God. Those
who are of God hear God's words. They hear God's words. If you're
not of God, you hear not God's words. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. He's talking about those who
believe. Talking to those who have come and taken willingly
of the water of life freely. And those who now say, come,
come on Lord, come on back, hurry up, tarry not, we love your appearing,
we look for you, even so come, Lord Jesus. Such, when they hear
the Lord speak of quickly appearing, say, come. Now this latter part
of this passage switches from a recorded response to a call
to those who have a need and a desire. And again, I know I
have friends who say this is an invitation. I simply do not
see that in Scripture. I do not see invitations in Scripture.
Because an invitation can be disregarded. When the Lord says
come, He means come. He's the Lord. And when He says
come, He always qualifies to whom He's speaking. He didn't
say, Come unto Me and I could care less. He said, Come unto
Me all ye that are laboring and I'll give you rest. Who's He
talking to? The laboring. Those who are laboring under
sin. He says, Come unto Me and I'll give you rest. He didn't
say to the Pharisees, ìCome unto Me.î He said to them, ìI didn't
come for you.î But to the weak and those poverty-stricken of
the spirit and those broken-hearted ones, He says, ìCome.î And those
who are thirsty, He says, ìCome.î ìTake of the water of life freely.î
Those who are thirsty, our Lord says, ìCome.î That's the language
He uses throughout Scripture. Look back at a few passages here
with me. Isaiah chapter 44. Isaiah chapter 44. Look at verse
3. Our Lord says, I will pour water
upon him that is thirsty. What is he going to do for the
thirsty? He is going to pour water on them and floods upon
the dry grounds. I will pour my Spirit upon thy
seed and my blessing upon thine offspring. He is talking to the
Lord Jesus Christ. about who he's going to pour
his blood on, the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall see
his seed and the Lord shall prolong his days. In Isaiah chapter 55
in verse 1, you're all familiar with this. This little word ho
means this, you are at the point. What does that mean? That's what,
a little teeny word meaning so much, but that's what it means.
You are at a point. You've arrived somewhere. Now
where you've arrived is where God has taken you from Isaiah
chapter 52 in verse 7 all the way to this point. In Isaiah
52, he starts declaring the sovereignty of God, the substitutionary work
of Christ, the suffering of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah chapter 33,
he shows that suffering to be voluntary. He shows it to be
vicarious. He shows it to be victorious.
In Isaiah 54, He declares that everything for God's people is
going to work for good. No weapon formed against them
and them shall prosper. And if you hear these things,
that God Almighty is sovereign, that Jesus Christ deals prudently
and has saved His people from their sins, if you have heard
indeed that He is the doctrine of God and He is stricken for
His people, If you have heard indeed that He has seen the travail
of His soul and shall be satisfied, if you have heard that God has
exalted Him and given Him above every name, if you have heard
that if you trust Him nothing bad could ever happen to you,
you're at the point. Oh, you want some of that? That's what they say. Does that
impress you? Are you inclined toward that?
Do you have an affinity for those things? I like that. Then you're thirsty. You're at the point. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth. Now what does it say? Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat. How do you buy without money?
You show up. Show up and it's free. Take of the water of life
freely. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Priceless wine and milk that
you don't have to pay for. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
come to the water and drink. Our Lord looked at that woman
at the well and He says, you know, if you knew who He was
talking to, you'd ask Me for water. And the
water I give you, you drink it, you'll never thirst again. You
want some of that? She said, Lord, give me that
water. I want some of that water. I want some of that water. Now,
our Lord, look over. What are we talking about when
we're talking about drinking? When we're talking about taking
of the water of life? Look at John chapter 7. The end of the Feast of the Tabernacles.
Our Lord stands at the altar. There in verse 37, he says, In
the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried,
saying, If any man is thirsty, or if any man is thirst, let
him come to me and drink. Now what does he say? He explained
it in the next verse. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. To drink of Christ is to believe
on Christ. He says, But this he spake, this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should
receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet
given, because that Jesus Christ was not yet glorified. He's talking
about believing. Though our Lord is saying, you
thirsty? Whosoever is willing. Whosoever
is thirsty, whoever they are, wherever they are, no restriction. If you're willing, take this
water. Take it freely. How much can
I take? All you want. The well will never
run dry. It's the fountain of life and
eternal life. No restriction in these words.
There is a guarantee in this blessed, blessed word to the
thirsty. that their thirst will be eternally
slain. Eternally. So our Lord, as He
speaks of coming again, the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And
him who hears the Gospel, whom God has given faith, says, Come.
And the ones that's thirsty, they come. And whosoever is willing
to take of this water, takes of this water. Even so, Even
so, take of the water of life freely. Freely. I tell you what, I'm thirsty. I found that I got a thirst a
long time ago when I didn't even know I was thirsty. The Lord
made me thirsty and I'm still thirsty. Nothing pleases me more
than to preach the gospel and to hear the gospel. Nothing on
the top side of this earth. And I can say with the Spirit
and the bride, the spiritual bride, even so come Lord Jesus. Come Lord Jesus. This world doesn't
hold much. Ain't much to it. It's fading
fast. Going off real quick. I want
some eternal water. Do you? Well, if you're willing,
drink up. Drink up. Father bless us through
our understanding we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Good night,
God bless you.