Living Out Of The Overflow | John 7:37–39

Opening Remarks: John 7

Third time in this passage

Rather than finish out the chapter, deal with one more truth from vs. 37-39

READ: John 7:37-39

The Lord introduces a thought that we often miss.

Our Christian lives should not be lived out of effort to produce something.

Our Christian lives should be lived as a result of something.

That is the point that Jesus makes in these three verses.

TITLE: Living Out Of The Overflow

PRAY:

Introduction:

I won’t spend much time giving you background today because this is the third time we’ve been in John 7.

Our text takes places on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles when Jesus stood up in the middle of the Temple and spoke for all to hear. He has a message for all the people attending the Feast.

The Feast of Tabernacles heavily used the image of water. The priests would pour water from the pool of Siloam on the altar as a picture of God’s provision when Israel wandered in the wilderness.

He gave them more than they needed. Provided for their every need, including water in the desert.

But take note of Jesus standing up and lifting His voice. This was unusual. The practice of the day was for the Rabbis or teachers to sit and teach.

But here’s Jesus heralding truth. John the Baptist was a voice crying in the wilderness. The word “Preach” in the NT means a “herald.” As in a person entering a public place and proclaiming truth. Lifting your voice.

When you have a message worth proclaiming, it deserves a passionate voice crying out about it.

I know that preaching may seem a little different to some in this room, depending on your background, but if we take our cues from Jesus and John the Baptist and the NT teaching on what it means to preach, I believe a man opening Scripture, lifting up his voice, preaching for change, is clearly part of God’s plan for the church age.

That’s what Jesus is doing. He’s preaching with a desire to see change in people’s lives.

The reason is this is the last time most of Israel would be gathered in one place until the next Feast, which would be the Passover, six months later.

That next Feast would be when Jesus would be crucified.

So there’s an urgency about this moment in time.

Thousands of people are in Jerusalem for the feast.

The chances of all them coming together again at the same time in the same place would be zero.

So Jesus, knowing the urgency, stands up in the middle of the Temple on the last day of the feast and cries out.

Saying, John 7:37–38 “…If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

We saw last time how Jesus says:

“Any Man” - Which means salvation is available to anyone.

Any race, man or woman, any color, religion, political party, any past, any intelligence, any education. Any person that desires to come will not be turned away.

“If Any Man Thirst” - Which means anyone that has a spiritual void in their lives.

If you’re thirsty, if you’re searching for something more, if you have an emptiness, or any dissatisfaction, any thing lacking at all. If any one is thirsty…

“Come And Drink” - Which simply means you must choose to hear the message of the Gospel and believe it.

Don’t complicate it. Recognize your sin. Repent of it. And come to Jesus believing.

That’s it. That’s all. He doesn’t say, “Come and work.”

Eph. 2:8-9 says it’s not of works, lest any man should boast.

If you could earn salvation with good works, you’d brag about it.

It’s not about you doing more good than bad.

None of your good can undo the bad. The sin is present already.

We’re condemned already.

So Jesus had to die to pay for our sins with His own blood.

If we could work our way to Heaven, why in the world did He have to come?

The work is finished. Any person can come to Jesus and believe. That’s what He says. Believe it.

But He doesn’t end His message there:

Jesus says, “Those That Believe Will Have An Overflow”

It comes in the form of a person called the Holy Ghost. God the Spirit in us.

The Holy Ghost is “living water” that never runs dry.

Notice, Jesus’ call to salvation is not just so you don’t have to go to hell.

That’s part of the Gospel. Knowing the consequence.

But Jesus is saying that there’s so much more to salvation that that.

He says, “To believe is to have a life overflowing with peace and satisfaction and contentment.”

The Holy Ghost, God the Spirit, indwells every believer. Abides with us. Comforts and guides us.

John would have had insight into this statement.

Notice his commentary on this.

Vs. 39 - John wrote this Gospel some 60 years after this event in the Temple took place.

He has perspective on what Jesus is saying. No one in the Temple that day fully grasped what Jesus was saying.

They saw the water poured on the altar and overflowing. They knew Jesus was making a connection between that water and living water flowing out of us. But they didn’t understand it.

But John, 60 years later, under the inspiration of God writing this book, did understand.

He says, “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive”

John is telling us that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit and how He would be given to anyone that places their faith in Christ. No one that day, including John, fully understood it. But in hindsight, he did.

Illustration: Street level view vs. 10,000 ft view

John had a 10,000 foot view of Jesus’ statement. He’d spent nearly 60 years experiencing the Holy Ghost’s work in his life. That’s where vs. 39 comes from.

John had lived with the help of the Holy Spirit for decades.

He was there after Jesus had ascended to Heaven and the HS had filled him and his fellow church members on the Day of Pentecost.

He had been comforted by the HS when his friend, the great Christian deacon named Stephen, had been stoned to death. He grieved, but the HS comforted him.

He had known the internal peace that came when all of the disciples, including his own brother James, had been persecuted and martyred by the enemies of Jesus.

He had experienced the guidance and contentment of the HS when he was left all alone on the isle of Patmos, having been tarred and feathered for preaching the Gospel.

The words of vs. 39 are coming from a man who had experienced the ministry of the Holy Ghost.

Vs. 39b - Jesus’ glory, according to John 17, took place at the cross. Being lifted up on the cross was a symbol of His glorification. Three days later He rose from the dead and 40 days after that He ascended back to Heaven where He dwells in all His glory (1 Peter 1:11, 21).

The people hearing this pronouncement from Jesus didn’t understand it, but John’s commentary explains it.

He had experienced the HS himself.

Can you imagine what that felt like the first time?

To that point in life, a relationship with God was more of an external experience.

There were times when God filled OT saints to do something great, but for the most part knowing God was hearing Him speak and obeying what He said.

When Jesus came, God went from way up there to right next to us.

They could finally see God in the flesh. Watch Him operate.

Listen to His words. Watch His facial expressions. Hear His breath. Finally, Emmanuel, God with us in the flesh. And as great as that was, Jesus is saying, there’s another step coming.

Jesus brought God next to us. But the Holy Spirit brought God into us.

That’s what He is saying. “Anyone that believes will have the Spirit flowing from within. A believer will have God the Spirit on the inside providing peace and satisfaction and contentment.”

I. The Holy Spirit Is An Inner Spring That Never Runs Dry

Peace for the believer will no longer come from an outside source, but from the inside.

Illustration: What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?

Bunjee Jumping?

Skydiving?

Teaching your children how to drive?

Skydiving, which I’ve never done

First time, go through training, excited, but getting nervous

Get into plane and as taking off you’re feeling the nerves

Get up to altitude and instructor says, “Okay, it’s time!”

Heart racing, terrified, legs jelly, can’t bring yourself to it

Instructor starts saying things like, “It’s okay, done this thousands of times, just follow instructions, never had an incident, everything will be fine”

So you jump. And it’s fun.

But it took an outside voice to convince you.

Now imagine you’re the instructor.

And you’re the on who’s done it 1,000 times.

You know how it works. You have full confidence. It’s just another day for you now.

So you go up to altitude and there’s no convincing needed. You jump with no nerves at all.

Because you have internal confidence.

That’s the difference that Jesus is talking about.

It used to be that comfort came from an outside voice.

But the Holy Spirit brought God inside us.

And we have comfort inside. We have peace inside.

We don’t have to get our hope and help and guidance from an outside voice.

The Holy Spirit is like a spring that never runs dry.

What a gift the Holy Spirit is to them that believe.

But notice one phrase that Jesus Christ used in Vs. 38. “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Not only is the Holy Spirit an inner spring that never runs dry, but…

II. The Holy Spirit Is A Spring That Flows Out Of Every Believer

Illustration: Visiting Arkansas, stayed on a cabin on a lake, could hear water falling, explored until we found a rock face with a small cave and water was continually flowing over the rocks and landing on the rocks below.

It’s source was a year round spring of water that continuously flowed

So there was a hidden source. An inward source underground. We couldn’t see the source. But we could see the water because it had to go somewhere.

And that’s what Jesus is talking about.

The inward source is the HS, which is like a spring that never runs dry.

But if there’s that much water, a continual source, the water has to go somewhere.

And like that water flowing off the altar in the Temple and spilling over the sides, Jesus says that a believer can live in such a way that the overflow from the Holy Spirit in his or her life will pour out.

As we live Spirit-filled lives, it will be evident in how we live.

The Spirit will affect our words to each other. Overflow.

He will impact the decisions we make. Overflow.

He will alter our plans and choices. Overflow.

He will change the things we watch and listen to. Overflow.

He’ll affect our attitudes. Overflow.

That’s the kind of life made possible for a Believer. A life of Overflow.

That you’re so in tune with God that the Holy Spirit just pours out of you.

That you walk so closely to Jesus Christ that the overflow is obvious to others.

What I’m talking about is living a Spirit-filled life.

When you’re filled with the Spirit, it has to go somewhere.

Water finds the path of least resistance and flows there.

And we might think that Jesus is giving an inevitable reality. (If you’re a believer this WILL happen).

But He’s actually giving them an inevitable possibility. (If you’re a believer this CAN happen).

The only way for the Holy Spirit to have that kind of outflow is in a believer’s life.

But a believer must make the choice about how much control the Spirit has in their life.

The term Spirit-Filled doesn’t mean we get more of less of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a person. You either have Him or you don’t.

To be Spirit-Filled simply means how much control of your life you allow the Spirit to have.

Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

We have a choice about how much control the HS has.

Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

According to that verse, we choose if the Spirit is in control or if our flesh is in control.

It’s a constant battle between doing what we want or doing what God wants.

Illustration: The HS is like a vessel of water that never runs out.

The water is available.

But we control the valve.

If we let Him have control, we stay filled. He satisfies our thirst.

And there’s overflow, meaning we have an impact on others as well.

But if we don’t allow Him to live through us, we don’t drink (and we die).

And we can’t be a blessing to others.

We can live out of the overflow, but we control the valve. Many believers who came to Jesus thirsty have now said, “Well that’s settled. I can do what I want.”

So they live by their flesh. And they miss the life Jesus makes possible.

The water is there. But they don’t allow the Spirit to control them and the water just sits.

The Spirit can help you live out of the Overflow. That’s the life made possible. But believer, you control the valve. If you don’t allow Him to work in you, the water runs dry. Without water, you can’t live. And without water, you can’t bless others.

The water is there. All you have to do each day is wake up and open the valve. To give the Holy Spirit full control of our lives every day.

Seeking Him in personal prayer.

Seeking Him through His Word.

Seeking through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.

Being thirsty enough for God that we open the valve.

THREE CLOSING TRUTHS

1. If you’re not thirsty for God, you won’t be satisfied any other way.

Nothing else in this world fulfills us like a relationship with God.

We think money will give us what we thirst for.

We think our jobs will satisfy us inwardly.

We think that vacation will make us happy.

We think that new car will give us what we long for.

But when those things don’t work, people turn to…

Alcohol to drown the pain

Drugs to quiet the noise

Sexual experiences to make them forget everything

You name it, none of it can do for you what Jesus the HS can do for you.

He can fulfill you inwardly.

To give you inner peace. A sense of security. Contentment.

If you’re thirsty, Jesus satisfies.

2. If you don’t open the valve, you won’t have an overflow of the HS.

Your walk with God is what opens the valve and allows the HS to flow.

But if you don’t walk with God, there’s no overflow.

And you wonder why you struggle in your Christian life. You’re running on empty.

You’re trying to pour water out and the valve is closed.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

Paul was facing tough circumstances, but He’s saying what Jesus was saying would be true of believers - Our source of strength didn’t come from eating and taking vitamins and working out. Our strength comes from the inside. The HS, that spring that never runs dry. Live out of the Overflow of the HS.

3. You choose whether or not your life is lived out of the overflow.

Meaning, you get to choose whether or not you walk closely enough with God that the HS flows out of your life.

You’re either living out of your own strength or you’re living out of the overflow.

Don’t be content with barely getting by in our Christian lives.

Illustration: Driving on E, at some point you’re going to run out of gas, Much better to fill up regularly than risk running out of gas.

“I’ll read my Bible just enough to be able to make it through work today.”

“I have five minutes to pray. That’s all I need.”

But that’s not the way Jesus intends. He says the Spirit with an open valve can flow out of your life like the water flowing over the sides of the Temple Altar.

If you’re a Believer, you have the unlimited resource of the HS at your disposal. You don’t have to live the Christian life on Empty. There’s enough of Him that if you open the valve, it Overflows. But you have to choose.

You have to be thirsty enough to seek Him.

Thirsty enough to walk in the Spirit.

Thirsty enough to open the valve and let Him live through you, fully in control.

Walk in the Spirit and have overflow. Or walk in the flesh and stay thirsty.

We all have a daily choice.

The reason some marriages are struggling is because spouses aren’t living out of the HS overflow.

The reason there’s conflict among believers is we aren’t choosing to live out of the overflow.

The reason you’re dry and spiritually thirsty is you haven’t been choosing to live out of the overflow.

Believer, live out of the overflow.

If you’re not a Believer, you can’t choose this until you first choose to place your faith in Jesus Christ. His qualifier was, “He that believes.”

Jesus died for your sins. Choose to place your faith in Him.

And once you do choose to place your faith in Jesus for salvation, live out of the overflow.

Inward Peace. Joy. Satisfaction. Fulfillment.

Which becomes a blessing to the people around us.

It’s all there. But you have to choose.

Will you choose to live out of the Overflow?