THE PROMISE OF LIVING WATER

 

John 7:37-39

 

Dihydrogen monoxide is the basic

component of life.

 

Life cannot be sustained without water. Human beings are made largely of water. All forms of life die in the absence of water. When scientists want to investigate the existence of life, they look for the existence of water. In order to determine whether life exists on Mars they have been probing to find water since the first launch to Mars.

 

Do you know the importance of water to

our physical bodies?

 

When our bodies fail to retain the right amount of water, dehydration sets in. It is the water in our body that determines the vitality, strength, and energy associated with daily living. Think about these facts associated with our body and water: The human body is ⅔ water. The body absorbs cold water faster than hot water. By the time you are 70-years-old, you will have required 1½ million gallons of water. Studies show that increasing water consumption can decrease fat deposits. Water is a natural appetite suppressant. If you loose 2% of your body’s water supply, your energy will decrease by 20%. At a 10% decrease in water, you will be unable to walk, and a 20% decrease – you’re dead.

 

Water is therefore essential to life! I say all this to say, “What is true of the physical is also true of the spiritual.” Before we get that we need to understand the significance of why Jesus said what He says here at this time during the Feast of Booths. Imagine the scene with me for a minute. Its feast time! We are coming to the end of the week long Feast. Great crowds were gathered in Jerusalem for the sacred ceremony of the out-pouring of water. This water represented the remembrance of the water that came from the rock in the wilderness. So, the Priests carrying Golden Pitchers would lead a parade or procession through the city to the pool of Siloam singing the words of Isaiah 12:3, "Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." The great crowd of people would parade back to the Temple and the Priests would pour the water from the pool of Siloam down upon the Altar and the people would shout and wave palm branches. This procedure went on for seven days, but on the last day the procedure was repeated with two significant exceptions. First, when the parade of people returned from the pool of Siloam, the Priests would march around the Altar seven times commemorating Joshua's victory at Jericho. Secondly, the Priests would raise the golden pitcher over the silver funnels as they had done each day previously, but this time there was no water, only an empty pitcher.

 

This signified the disobedient generation that died in the Wilderness. Instead of a shout and the waving of palm branches as the people had done each day, they now stood in silence. It was in the moment of silence — this moment of bewilderment, emptiness and meaninglessness that ………..Jesus cried out. The offer is made to those who are thirsty. Who are those who are thirsty? Because “thirst” is refereeing to……….anxiety of soul, conviction of sin, desire for pardon, longing after peace of conscience. Spiritual thirst is what Jesus has in mind and what He is concerned with most. The same kind of thirst David had while wandering in the wilderness of Judah, as recorded in Psalm 63:1. “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” We find a similar account of spiritual thirst in Psalm 42:1-2 where we read, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” Here we see a promise that will quench our thirst forever. The question is, “Are you thirsty?” Jesus already spoke about the provision of living water in a private conversation with the woman of Samaria

 

Here Jesus openly, not privately, but openly shouts out this provision of living water.  

Jesus said, "If anyone thirsts…"

 

What does this mean?

 

First, the gift of the water is free.

The human soul has thirst always.

Thirst is a consciousness of an unsatisfied need.

Thirst expresses desperation.

Thirst will kill faster than hunger.

One can go weeks without food, but only days without water.

Lastly this implied in the word “thirst” is that what Jesus offers is satisfying.

 

Are you thirsty to drink this water.

For the believer are you thirsty for God and His Word?

 

Can you honestly say or have said say this morning as the Philippian jailer “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16 Sadly, many today thirst after other things than the salvation offered by Jesus then, and today.

 

Some seek:

 

Other religions that fit their lifestyle, I god they can control to do what they want.

Money, fame, health and wealth gospels.

The pleasures of this world to fill the void in their heart

Honor and rank, to be known by others, to be worshipped by.

Self-indulgences or lust of the heart

 

It’s no wonder the bible declares the natural man or 

woman as “blind”, “deaf” or as “dead”

What Jesus cries out among a divided crowd, some believed, many wanted to arrest Him; this is what makes the gospel so beautiful! It is the power of God to wake the dead to sight, and those who sleep and slumber in their sin. Look what Jesus says “Let him come to me” Instead of depending on this ceremony of drawing water let him come to me, the true Messiah, and he/she shall find an ever-abundant supply for their soul. What Jesus is revealing is that He is the foundation and supplier for our spiritual necessities. Jesus is the Reliever, and Deliver, for our souls from judgement and Hell.

 

See to come to Christ is to believe and to

believe in Him who is to come.

 

This is our only remedy for spiritual thirst, our only hope of eternal life with God. You will never find satisfaction, or relief, in anything else whether its worldly, or another religion. Remember what Peter said to the Sanhedrin? “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the 'STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.' Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:8-12

 

J C Ryle penned these words which I think summarizes this invitation to come! “The remedy may seem a very simple one, too simple to be true. But there is no other remedy that this; and all the wisdom of the world can never find a flaw in it, or devise a better. To use this grand prescription of Christ is the secret of all saving Christianity. The saints of God in every age have been men and women who drank of this foundation by faith and were relieved. They felt their guilt and emptiness, and thirsted for deliverance. They heard of a full supply of pardon, mercy and grace in Christ crucified for all penitent believers. They believed the good news and acted upon it. They cast aside all confidence in their own goodness and worthiness, and came to Christ by faith as sinners.”

 

This is what Jesus is refereeing to when He said “let him come to me” Jesus, is issuing a totally open-ended invitation to everyone in the sound of His voice. Again, this is what makes the gospel so precious and beautiful! He doesn’t stop there. This gospel comes with a promise, He seals this truth with a Helper who will seal you in Christ. Who is this, Helper? Jesus answers this question in the verse that follows, “the Holy Spirit” (v39) 

Through the pages of the Old Testament the Holy Spirit appears frequently. It was the Holy Spirit who anointed the prophets, anointed the priests, and anointed the king. It was and is the Spirit who changed the hearts of the unbelievers in the Old Testament and made them people of God. As the scriptures say in Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” Ezekiel 39:29, “And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” The Holy Spirit plays a pivotal role in your salvation and in your sanctification. Without Him, we would be still dead in our sins, and trespasses Without the Holy Spirit, there was and is… no regeneration, no salvation, apart from the operation and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS CONVICTION INTO THE SINNER’S HEART.

 

The Spirit illuminates our sinfulness to our conscience. (Acts 2:37-38; Rom 1:19-20). As Jesus said, “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8. What does the Spirit use to convict our sinful hearts? The Law of God. “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” Rom 3:20

THE HOLY SPIRIT REGENERATES (CONVERTS) THE SINNER’S HEART.

 

It is important to remember that it is God through the work of the Holy Spirit who graciously grants us salvation. (Titus 3:5; 1 Cor 6:11). The Holy Spirit is the primary agent through which we are reborn. ”But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7. The Holy Spirit produces in the soul, making one a new man or woman. (2 Cor 5:17; Eph 4:23-24)

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT RESIDES IN THE BELIEVER PERMANENTLY.

 

The Holy Spirit in Old Testament times was temporary in nature as David cries out to God to not remove the Holy Spirit from him. Ps 51:11. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament permanently takes up residence within the believer at the moment of salvation. John 14:16-18; 15-16; 1 John 2:27. As Paul said, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Rom 8:8-10

THE HOLY SPIRIT BAPTIZES THE BELIEVER AT SALVATION.

 

The believer is baptized by the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation, which means that that he has a new life with Christ once for all. (Rom 6:1-4; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:4-6)

 

THE HOLY SPIRIT SEALS THE BELIEVER AT SALVATION.

 

The sealing of the Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee of eternal redemption for the believer. This sealing speaks of a finished transaction in which God has implied ownership of the believer.  (1 Cor 6:19-20; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 1:13 and 4:30). We read, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Eph 1:13-14. The Spirit, as a sealing, shows ownership, a completed transaction, authentication, authority and security for those who are in Christ.

THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS THE BELIEVER TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE.

 

The filling of the Spirit in the life of the child of God is one of the most important issues. Why? It depends on our complete yielding to the Spirit that dwells in us. (Eph 5:18). Why? We can quench (1 Thess 5:19), we can grieve (Eph 4:30) but we must walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:25). The filling of the Holy Spirit ultimately results in: Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), Joyful and sharing hearts (Ephesians 5:19), Thankfulness (Ephesians 5:20), Submissiveness (Ephesians 5:21)

 

See, this living water is more than a drink.

It’s everlasting, and it comes with a covenant promise.

 

Jesus said “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (v38) Other translations us the word “Belly” instead of “flow”. The word “belly” is often put for the midst of a thing, the center, and the heart. An example of this is with Jonah when in Matthew’s gospel it says, “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart/belly of the earth.” John Piper wrote this in reference to this world “flow”. “It means that when you come to Jesus to drink, you don’t just get a single drink, but you get a spring, a fountain, a well. You get Jesus. Rivers of water will flow because a River-Maker is in you. That’s the point. You will never have to search again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the joy of your soul will flow from Jesus. When you come to him, you get him. And he never leaves.

 

The belly is at the center of the heart that flows

to what it desires and loves.

 

What flows from the heart will always reveal what’s in your heart. This is why the writer of Proverbs says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Prov 4:23. Careful living will be regulated and denominated by it. This will produce, or spring up….. right principles, and be directed to right ends, and performed with right views, because Christ is at the center of it. So, to reject this living water is to reject Jesus, but this also means you reject the Father. Great care therefore should be taken of the heart, since so much depends upon it, and it is so well known to God, who is the searcher of it. Over and over in this Gospel, Jesus makes plain that if you reject Him as God’s Son, His Messiah, and as the supreme Treasure of your life, you don’t know God or honor God or love God or have God as your Father. No matter what your religion, and no matter what you say your relationship with God is.

 

Sadly, many miss what Jesus is saying here. 

People have a problem in quenching their spiritual thirst.

They fail to see and recognize the thirst they need for their soul in themselves.

They know the emptiness is there; but don’t know why they feel empty all the time.

They fail to realize that only God can quench that thirst and give hope in a hopeless world.

 

Jesus did not promise a trickle or a stream or a flow.

He promised a river.

 

Can you get your mind around this? The Holy Spirit is like a mighty rushing river, a life-giving river. (v38) He is like the mighty river found in Ezekiel 47 that produces life wherever it flows. The vision of the waters; or, the blessings which flow from this source to breathing and refresh all the inhabitants of the earth. Think about it! The mighty Amazon River finds its origin above the freeze line of the Andes Mountains in South America. There, little trickles of water emerge from the frozen ground and flow down the mountain. One little stream flowing into another little stream until a majestic river is formed. As the river flows it picks up speed and power. It flows for 3,600 miles before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean, where it hits the ocean at a rate of 1.4 million gallons of water per second, compare that with Niagara Falls which pumps out only 681 thousand gallons per second. The Amazon River is more than two times as powerful as Niagara Falls. It hits the ocean with such force that it pushes fresh water some 60 miles out into the Atlantic Ocean. What power!

 

That’s the same power the gospel has when a person embraces Christ at the cross of repentance and faith. Jesus didn’t promise a trickle or a stream or a flow… He promised a river. He promised us the third person of the Trinity. The gospel is a life transforming, its an on-going action, as He brings you into His glory. That’s what it means to never thirst again!

Jesus is enough!  What does that mean the Jesus is enough? “There was a story is told of a young student who went to his spiritual teacher and asked the question, "Master, how can I truly find God?"  The teacher asked the student to accompany him to the river which ran by the village and invited him to go into the water.  When they got to the middle of the stream, the teacher said, "Please immerse yourself in the water." The student did as he was instructed, whereupon the teacher put his hands on the young man's head and held him under the water.  Presently the student began to struggle. The master held him under still.  A moment passed and the student was thrashing and beating the water and air with his arms. Still, the master held him under the water.  Finally, the student was released and shot up from the water, lungs aching and gasping for air.  The teacher waited for a few moments and then said, "When you desire God as truly as you desired to breathe the air you just breathed……then you shall find God."

 

So let me ask you church family, “Are you thirsty for this water? The gospel is the complete glory of God. It is the good news. Christ has secured it all by his death and resurrection and glorification. The greatest of all mistakes is to try to find relief in any other way than the one before us. Jesus says, “If you’re thirsty, come to me. For I am the one, because of my death and burial and resurrection, because of my glorification to the right hand of the Father on high, I am the one who pours out the blessed Holy Spirit. Come to me and drink and be satisfied.”