Who's Thirsty?

Introduction

Good Morning. One thing I’ve started to notice as I get older is this earth is becoming more and more sensitive to the ambient temperature. I’m not saying that I didn’t feel the extreme hot and extreme cold when I was younger. I was just not as in turn to it as I am today. As the years go by, the summers are getting hotter and the winter (which is my favorite season) is getting colder. I don’t know how you feel, but this past summer, there were some warm days. I noticed some days, there was just not enough cold water with ice. Lately, I’ve been drinking more of the clear stuff. I remember a time back some of us were told — hey you guys do not drink enough water. I thought, really? I drink water when I think about it. Come to find out the amount of water I was drinking was not anywhere close to where I was to be. We had learned, to be hydrated at our optimum, we were guided to drink half our body weight in ounces of water. I thought — ok, no problem. That was until I realized, half my body weight in ounces equated to just shy of a gallon of water! So, I upped the water in take. And, about 6 to 8 weeks later, I could really tell a difference. My skin felt better, joints worked better, digestion worked better. The earth suit over all worked better. So, what the point here? When you’re thirsty we drink water. And, some of know what that feels like, when we take that gulp of water, that water tastes so good. It’s like, oh yeah, that’s what I need.

Our souls are the same way. Our Maker wired us to look forward to that spiritual water. It’s just like when our earth suite is thirsty, we get dry mouth, a sticky tongue, some of us get headaches. Our body is trying to tell us something. Same goes when we’re spiritually dry, our soul will tells us. Our dehydrated hearts can send messages of help. We can experience waves of worry. We can have feelings of guilt or fear. God doesn't wish for us to have these symptoms of dryness. We’re to treat the dryness of our soul the same way we would treat the dryness of our earth suite — with a big gulp. It bring the question, so where do we find water for our souls? Who’s thirsty this morning? This morning Jesus is going to give us the answer. Open your Bibles with me to the 7th Chapter of John, and let’s turn our attention to verses 37 and 38.

John 7:37 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

John 7:38 ESV

38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Pastoral Prayer

[Display Verse 37]

Our Lord Jesus Christ has many interesting aspects. One of those aspects is how He teaches. In many of His teaching examples, He can be seen borrowing from either things that are happening nearby or from things that are common knowledge within the community. That is what He’s doing here this morning. We are at the time of the year when the Jews were celebrating The Feast of Tabernacles. This was a yearly event that took place. The Feast of Tabernacles was where the Jews recalled and celebrated how God protected and cared for their ancestors during their time in the wilderness. It was about drawing water. Our passage picks up on the last day, the 8th day, which is considered to be the high point of the feast. There’s two important points to bring up here in verse 37.

First, we see some action being performed. John says, “Jesus stood up and cried out.” Normally, we wouldn’t think too much of this action. After all, in previous business meetings, we’ve seen some of our members stand up when either addressing a question or giving a report. What Jesus is doing here is out of the norm. He has just colored outside the lines. And, what I mean by that is, it’s thought during this time the teaching posture was that the person was sitting and speaking, not for convenience sake. That is just how it was done. So, when Jesus stands up — it’s a big deal. All eyes are on Him. He has surprised people looking. He has wide-eyed children and youth looking. He has the attention of the grandparents. Everybody is looking, trying to figure out — what is going on?! Here’s part B to this first point, what else is our Lord doing? He — CRIED OUT! What’s significant about that? Let’s consider a couple passage examples.

In Mark Chapter 10 is where we hear about Jesus healing a blind man. Verse 47 says, “And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.””

In Matthew Chapter 14 is where we read about Peter begin called out to the boat. Verse 30 tells us when Peter was afraid because he was “beginning to sink.” When this was happening, “he cried out, Lord save me.”

And in Mark Chapter 5 we hear about another of Jesus’ healings, a demon possessed man. Verse 6 and 7 says:

Mark 5:6–7 NKJV

6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”

John is using the say word to show the volume of Jesus’ voice. This isn’t about raising your hand to be called on, or doing a throat clear. Jesus has something to say. And, He’s saying it because time is short! Our Lord is crying out with the words, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Our Lord is using some very powerful imagery here! There are people who live in an arid climate. They knew what it meant to be thirsty.

[Display Verse 37]

The second point Jesus is proclaiming is two fold. First it’s an invitation. We see that with the words, “if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Our Lord is not just limiting the invitation to a select few; the Bible says “anyone.” That means there’s an invitation is open to all. Jesus Christ went to the cross for all. The second point we can pick up in this verse is the identity of the fountain. That is Jesus Christ. He’s the source. This is an important invitation! Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God’s Son, invites thirsty people to come to him and drink. Jesus invitation comes at both a time remembered and a critical time. Remember The Festival of Tabernacles was remembering back on a time of history with the Israelites were in the desert. They were thirsty.

If you want to look it up: turn your attention to the 20th Chapter of Numbers. This is where we can read about where the congregation was questioning Moses why did you “bring us to this evil place?” In verse 10 and following, this is where Moses strikes a rock twice “and water came out abundantly.” The invitation is open to us also. Some of us here today could be thirsty on different levels. Some of us right now are in the desert. We could feel like we’ve been going-and-going, the thing is this energizer bunny is running low, even critically low at time. We live in the high desert. We know what it’s like to experience the low temps of a cold desert. That also means we know what it’s like to live in a place that is arid and hot. For those of you who keep up with out annual rain fall, you know we do not receive much rain. That goes to show, we understand the importance of water. I remember a couple years back the City of Albuquerque asked the citizens to do all they could to conserve water, because the aquifer was low. When we’re in a desert, water is a great commodity, and in many cases — when you’re thirsty, thirst can turn into a craving. Which means when we’re in a desert, water equals life! I read once when a person came to Jesus, it was said, “I came to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream. My thirst was quenched. My soul revived, and now I live in him.” WHOOOO! That is awesome! That is something EVERY Christian can understand. I came, I drank, Jesus came in! This helps us to break out what is means to believe.

[Display verse 38]

Because the in the next verse we see where our Lord says, “whoever believes in me.” What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means to come out of our sinful thirst to Jesus, embracing Him, confessing Him as God, Savior and Lord! It means more than just simply agreeing with what is true! Anybody can do that. It comes down to trust. It means we believe so strongly in God and Jesus that what he did is true, we are rescued, and because we believe so strongly, we are willing to commit our lives to Him. Some years back, I was part of a project management team that was responsible for overseeing the construction of the Bernalillo County Jail. During a phase of construction, we had to get up onto part of the jail. I can remember, the only way up was on 30-foot aluminum ladder. Now those of you who’ve been on an aluminum extension ladder know how much those things flex. Here’s the deal, I was about 100-pound heavier than I am now. So you could imagine how much that thing flexed as I went up. Did I agree the ladder was true, staked at the bottom and tied off at the top? Of course I did. Did I trust the aluminum ladder to get me to the top, knowing how much it was going to flex? That was yet to be seen. The question I had was, could it get me from here to there. It required me to have faith in the ground stakes that it would not slip-out from under me. It required me to have faith in the wire tie-off at the top. It required me to have faith in the ladder itself. Ultimately I had to believe in all these materials working together, because there was simply NO way I could get myself from one side to the other. I needed help. That what Jesus does. He’s the bridge that gets us off the desert island and to God! The difference is Jesus doesn't flex like the aluminum ladder. We can have full confidence in Him!

These four words, “whoever believes in me” are SO POWERFUL and densely packed. They deserve their own sermon! Today, they speak to us about the incentives of the fountain. We receive the soul-refreshing spiritual water that we need. This is an analogy for spiritual life, eternal life which includes all the elements of redemption, justification, sanctification and adoption to name a few. Because of Jesus Christ, and His work on the cross, a constant spring of pure cleansing water flows. When we drink H2O, it gets into places we cannot go. The same is true of Jesus. When Jesus begins to flow, He gets into areas we cannot go alone. We need His help. I know you’ve heard the phrase, “if anyone is going to do a work in that person’s life — it’s going to have be Jesus.” We can see that element in Paul life. Perhaps you can see that in your life or someone you know? But! Look here at the end of verse 38! “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” This means we cannot keep the water in! It will flow out of us and onto others. This is AWESOME! This means we do not have to become stagnant ponds. All of this belongs to the Lord. It’s all for His glory. In the book of Jonah, (to paraphrase) God said go and Jonah said no. God wanted to do a work in Jonah for the people of Nineveh. “The word of the Lord came to Jonah,” (Jonah 1:1) but he didn’t do anything with it. Jonah needed a dose of some spiritual Drano to get the flow going! When the Lord moves, it not a trickle, He moves. The water is in us and wanting to gush out for thirsty souls all over the world.

Application

The question, Who Am I In Christ is three fold! A time back Haley sent to all of us an email that could help us to discern our spiritual gifts. This was for your information. It was to serve as a building block of prayer in how the Lord could be gifting you. This is a way the living water could be flowing from you, which could lead to a gospel conversation among your social circles. Perhaps you’re already a believer in Jesus Christ and feel like you’re in a desert spiritually dry and thirsty. This could be your call to return to Jesus. Return to His Word. Return to Him in prayer. Return to a small group study with friends. Return to fellowship with you Lord and Savior.

If you’re not yet a believer in Jesus Christ and hearing that question, Who Am I In Christ? You are a person with an invitation to come.

[Display Verse 37]

Look once more with me at the end of verse 37. There are three words that stick our, thirsts, come and drink. Jesus knows your thirsty, and is giving you an open invitation. You might be feeling that your heart is empty and dry. He can fill it, rejuvenating it with living water, where you will never thirst again. Won’t you accept His invitation today?

Closing Prayer