Sunday Sermon John 7:37-39 Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome to First Community Church at home. We are so glad that each one of you have joined us to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth.
As we walked into the church to record today’s sermon, I looked at our information table and noticed the date on the last bulletin. It was March 15. March 15 was the last time we met at our physical address. That means that today is week number 6 we have been away form each other.
Each week we are away for each other, it seems like our love for one-another is growing. Many of you have shard with me how you miss your brothers and sisters, how you miss your families, and how you miss us gathering together for worship, for the Word, and for fellowship.
Know that you are all missed, loved, and prayed for.
It is my hope that we will all grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. That all of us will begin to feast on the Bread of Life in a way we have never done before, and that our prayer life would be revolutionized. And ultimately we would have a personal revival that would radically impact our homes, communities, and churches.
Stay the course church, this will all be over before you know it.
Let’s pray in and dive into the Word of Life.
Prayer
Read John 7:37-39
When you read Jesus’ words here, where He promises that from the innermost being of the one who believes in Him will flow rivers of living water, you have to stop and ask, “To what extent is that true of me?
Since I trusted in Christ as my Savior, has it been my experience that ever-flowing, abundant rivers of living water have gushed up inside of me and flowed out of me?
Now I’m guessing your probably thinking why are we going to this text? What is the significance or what is Pastor John trying to communicate to us?
Those questions are both convicting and hope-producing.
They are convicting because none of us, if we’re honest, can say, “Yes, those words nail it!
That’s exactly how to describe my life since becoming a Christian!”
Honesty forces me to say, “Well, there has usually been a trickle of living water, although there have been some droughts where even it has dried up.
Occasionally, there has been a creek of living water. But ever-flowing, abundant rivers (plural)? It would be a stretch to describe my Christian life like that!”
So Jesus’ words convict me with the barrenness of my walk with Him.
But Jesus’ words also give us hope, because he has given us a promise here:
We see man’s responsibility with the coming part
We see God’s response to our coming: Out of your innermost being, your heart, will flow rivers of living water.
What a promise! These living waters cannot be manufactured or produced by human means, only by the living God!
Well let’s go back to Psalm 46 and look at what prompted me to teach on living water:
There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God
We learned the Jerusalem is one of the ancient cities not founded on a river. Therefore, there was no water source until:
We also learned about the significance of water and how King Hezekiah dug his famous tunnel so that Jerusalem had a water source within the walls.
It was called The spring of Gihon, in the Kidron valley, Hezekiah Diverted through a 1777’ long conduit, hewn out of solid rock, into a reservoir inside the city walls.}
We also had learned that when an enemy was attempting to take over a city that they would try to cut off the water source.
Why? We need water to survive physically!
But much more important is that we need The Water of Life to live spiritually? Jesus has living water church! And this is why we are at this text.
What are you thirsty for? How are you attempting to quench your thirst? A thirst that only Jesus can quench?
As I prayed, I sensed the Holy Spirit leading us to tabernacle here for a few weeks.
Normally, here at FCC we go through books of the Bible one verse at a time, line upon line, precept upon precept, but for this season of life we will allow the Spirit to lead week by week and give us the messages He knows we need to hear during this stay at home order.
A little back ground
A little back ground
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
John Calvin wrote, “Although Christ avoided dangers, he did not turn aside a hair’s breadth from the course of his duty”
The phrase after these things refers to the events described in chapter 6, which took place around the time of Passover in April (6:4).
Since chapter 7 opens at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in October (7:2), there is a gap of about six months between chapters 6 and 7.
John records nothing about that interval, except that Jesus spent it walking (traveling and ministering) in Galilee.
The apostle’s purpose in composing his gospel was not to write an exhaustive biography of Jesus Christ, but to present Him as the Son of God and Messiah .
We see here that the Feast of Tabernacles otherwise know as The Feast of Booths was at hand.
This is significant for us to understand the verses at hand:
The Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths or Ingathering, lasted for seven days during the Jewish month Tishri (Sept.–Oct.) with a special festival assembly on the eighth day (Lev. 23:33–36; Neh. 8:18).
According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, the Feast of Tabernacles was the most popular of the three major Jewish feasts. It was marked by celebrations and parties, and featured water-drawing and lamp-lighting rites (cf. John 7:37–38; 8:12).
Also known as Sukkot (soo·kowt) in Hebrew, again God wanted the Israelites to observe this festival by living in temporary shelters for seven days as a reminder that when their ancestors were in the wilderness, God provided them booths to dwell in.
“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed.
YOU CAN ALSO READ ABONT MANDATORY ATTENDANCE FOR JEWISH MALES IN Ex 23 & 34
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
To really appreciate Jesus’ claim here in John 7:37-39, we need to note the setting.
It is the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths), Tabernacles was a harvest feast of thanksgiving to God.
The Israelites lived in booths to remind them of God’s care for them in the wilderness, when He provided manna and water from the rock.
The feast also looked forward to the final harvest and ingathering of the nations during Messiah’s kingdom.
During Jesus’ time, the feast was also characterized by a daily procession led by a priest carrying a golden pitcher of water drawn from the Pool of Siloam. The water was poured out at the base of the altar at the same time that another priest would pour out a pitcher of wine on the other side of the altar, which pointed to the future outpouring of the Holy Spirit as predicted by Isaiah (Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services [Eerdmans], pp. 280–282). Isaiah 12:3 says, “Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.” And Isaiah 44:3 states, “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.”
John wants us to see that Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Here, in 1:14 he told us that (literally), “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.”
Dwelt- (ske-noo) to settle (pitch a tent) v. — to take up residence or dwell in or as if in a tent; to tabernacle with, encamp, to shelter, hold as one’s abode.
Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
Church, here Paul tells us that Jesus is the rock that supplied Israel with water in the barren desert
John writes that Jesus is also the bread of life, the fulfillment of the manna that sustained Israel in the wilderness (John 6).
So now, on the last day of this feast, Jesus claims to be the source of living water to all who will come to Him and drink. In other words, He fulfills all that the feast symbolized.
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Getting back to the feast , we learn that on each of its seven days there was also an important water ritual.
That ceremony was not prescribed in the Old Testament, but had become a tradition in the centuries just before Jesus’ time.
It commemorated God’s miraculous provision of water during Israel’s wilderness wandering
Church, Each day of the feast the high priest drew water from the pool of Siloam and carried it in a procession back to the temple.
At the Water Gate (on the south side of the inner court of the temple), three blasts were sounded on a shofar (a trumpet made out of a rams’ horn) to mark the joy of the occasion. Isaiah 12:3 (“Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation.”) was also recited.
At the temple the priests marched around the altar while the temple choir sang the Hallel (Pss. 113–118). The water was then poured out as an offering to God.
It was against the backdrop of the last pitcher being poured out that the scholars believe Jesus stood and cried out, or shouted in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”
That’s an astonishing claim! No human could make such a promise!
What are you thirsting for? What are you quenching your thirst with?
Next week we will continue our study here in John 7, we will learn of Jesus’ invitation, and the responses of the people.
Prayer
Announcements:
Please take a moment this week to call just one person from church, one person your work with, and one person from your family. Let them know you miss them and pray with them if they will allow it.
Please stay in the Word. This is a time that we must learn to have the spiritual discipline in our lives called personal study and prayer.
Be on the look out for emails from us for up coming events or just simple communication.
Be blessed!
Benediction
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David.
BE BLESSED AND NOT STRESSED!
YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!