A small boy is sent to bed by his father. Five minutes later...
“Da-ad...”
“What?”
“I’m thirsty. Can you bring drink of water?”
“No. You had your chance. Lights out.”
Five minutes later: “Da-aaaad...”
“WHAT?”
“I’m THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water?”
“I told you NO!” If you ask again, I’ll have to spank you!!”
Five minutes later...”Daaaa-aaaad...”
“WHAT!”
“When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?”
The soft drink maker Sprite advertises their product with the slogan, “Obey Your Thirst!” This morning I want to encourage you to obey your thirst as well. What am I talking about? I am talking about the kind of thirst that comes in a Christian’s life – the thirst to be filled by the Spirit.
You see, the Holy Spirit would like to come into your life and transform you. When you are saved you are forgiven for the sins you have committed, yet, in your heart remains that sin nature you were born with. That nature is at war with you. However, God has provided the cure for you to have that nature removed and for you to be filled with the Living Waters of the Holy Spirit. He does this through what we refer to as Sanctification.
Entire Sanctification is, first, a second work of grace, that is, it can be obtained only by the Christian; second, it comes to the heart of the believer instantaneously; third, it frees from the sinful nature with which every person is born; fourth, it is attainable in this life when the necessary conditions are met; and fifth, it and the baptism with the Holy Spirit are simultaneous or occur at the same time. (1)
In our Scripture reading this morning we find Jesus was speaking on the great feast day, the Feast of the Firstfruits which we know as the Feast of Pentecost. This was the very day on which the Holy Spirit would later be given. It was on this last day of the Feast that they would go down to the pool at Siloam and scoop out some water and pour it at the foot of the altar. This all took place perhaps a year before the Holy Spirit came. As they are pouring out this water at the foot of the altar, Jesus stands up among the thousands of people who were attending this event and begins talking to the crowd about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take a closer look at what Jesus had to say.
Notice…
I. The Invitation to those desiring the Holy Spirit
Jesus said, “If any man thirst.” (v.37)
Notice who Jesus gave this invitation to: He didn’t give this invitation to those who had prayed and fasted long enough. He didn’t give this invitation to those who had prayed loud enough. He didn’t give this invitation to those who had repeated phrases of praises enough. He didn’t give this invitation to those who had recently taken the sacraments. He simply gave this invitation to those who are thirsty.
Have you ever been really thirsty? When you’re really thirsty, you’ll about drink anything as long as it’s wet – because you’re thirsty.
I once read a newspaper article about how a criminal on the run gave himself up because he was thirsty. The police had apparently surrounded this man so that his options of getting away were no longer possible. The police used wisdom when it came to capturing this outlaw. They offered him a Pepsi. He took them up on their offer and came out of his hiding place. Yes, he got arrested, but he had his thirst quenched.
Well, Jesus has invited us to enjoy the well-springs of the Holy Spirit. All it takes is thirst – if you’re thirsty enough you can drink. When you begin to thirst hunger and thirst after God, you will do anything in order to taste the cool water of the Holy Spirit. We can be as close to God as we want to be. We can enjoy as much of the Holy Spirit as we want – we just have to get thirsty enough.
You may not know all of the theology. You may not know all there is to know about the Scriptures. But, if you know thirst, you can know the one who can quench the thirst.
Jesus gave an invitation to enjoy the Holy Spirit – to those who were thirsty.
II. The Instruction for receiving the Holy Spirit.
“Let him come to me and drink.” (v. 37)
Jesus gives us instructions. If we want to draw closer to Him, if we want to enjoy the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit, what do we have to do? Jesus didn’t say that we needed to read a bunch of books about the Holy Spirit – as helpful as they may be. He didn’t say that we needed to take seven laps around the church. He simply said “come to me.”
Consider the call by Isaiah in Isaiah 55:1, “"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.” (NKJV) Are you broke? Is there any poor here tonight? God says that you can come to the waters and buy and eat and drink without money, without price. You don’t have to pay the priest to sprinkle some holy water on you. You can go to Jesus and allow Him to give you Living Water to drink.
Jesus invites you to come and receive the Holy Spirit. Have you? Are you experiencing the Living Water of the Holy Spirit in your life? Why don’t you come to Jesus and enjoy His fullness?
How do we ‘come to Jesus to drink?’ Well, we find in other Scriptures that Jesus told those who wanted to follow Him, that in order to do so they had to “…deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) You see, in order to be sanctified, there must be a death to self – you’ve got to deny yourself to follow Him. The sin nature at is very core is pride – a love for one’s self. “I want my way…” “I want to live the way I want to live…” For us to be fully Christ’s, we must first die to ourselves. We were born with this nature in side, not we must fully consecrate our all to God. This is sanctification. And Jesus tells us that if you are thirsty for the Holy Spirit, you can go to Him and drink. What do you have to do? Go to Him and fully surrender your all to Him and He will fill you. The question is, are you thirsty?
What would you do to avoid death? Upon hearing the footstep so f the Grim Reaper at your door, what price would you pay for an extension? If you were thirsty, would you give your right hand?
Aron Ralston did. The 27 year-old mountain climber spends his holidays climbing the Rocky Mountains. He’s done it over 45 times, alone, and always in the winter – most of the time after midnight. Life on the edge is nothing new for him. But life under an 800 pound boulder? He was climbing off one when it shifted and trapped his right hand against the wall of a narrow crevice.
He shoved the rock with his shoulder, and tried to chisel it with his knife. He even attempted to hoist the boulder with his climbing rope and pulley. The boulder would not budge. After five days, with food and water gone and having drifted back and forth between depression and visions of friends and water, he made a decision, the thought of which makes mere mortals gulp. He decided to cut off his own hand.
He had to break his own wrist first, and then with a cheap multiuse tool, be began cutting into his own arm. The blade was dull, and he said that it took over an hour to finish his own amputation.
He finally broke free from the boulder and then faced the challenge of finding help. He crawled through a 150-foot ravine, rappelled (one handed) down a 60-foot wall, and then hiked six miles. Only then did he run into some Dutch tourists, who no doubt, got more for their money than what their travel agent promised.
Aron downplayed his own courage and explains his escape as a “matter of pragmatics.”
Pragmatic indeed. On one hand, death. Without the other hand, life. When faced with the choice, he chose life. Hey, when you’re thirsty, you’ll do about anything… (2)
How about you? Are you thirsty? Are you thirsty enough to die to yourself and fully consecrate your all to Him? Do you long for more of God’s Presence in your life? Do you long to draw closer to God and to have an intimate relationship with Him. If so, you can if you will go to Him. If you will get desperate God will fill you. You don’t have to thirsty. He does not withhold His Presence from us. If we want more of Him, He will give us what we long for. Jesus said in Luke 11:9-13, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 "Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
The Invitation was to those who were thirsty. The Instruction was to come to Jesus to drink. Finally, notice…
III. The Inner Fountain that flows within those who are full of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, “Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”
When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives we become rivers, not cisterns.
A natural example of this point can be found by looking at the two seas in the Holy Land. The Sea of Galilee freely receives and gives out water. It has an abundance of life, nurturing many different kinds of fish and plant life. The water from the Sea of Galilee is carried by way of the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea only takes water in and does not give out. There is nothing living, no fish or plant life in the Dead Sea. The powerful life giving waters of the Sea of Galilee become dead when mixed with the hoarded waters of the Dead Sea. Life can not be sustained if held onto. (3)
We are not to be like the Dead Sea, but we are to be a great river. We are not to be like a swamp, but we are to be a refreshing stream.
Think with me for a minute…who is the most Godly and Holy individual person you know? How would you describe them? I know the Godliest people have a sweet spirit about them. They are always kind and loving. They are always concerned about others above themselves. Why are they? Because they are being filled with the Holy Spirit, they are like a river. The Holy Spirit is going into their lives, and the Holy Spirit is flowing out and through their lives. Jesus said, “Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”
What will flow in these rivers? The fruit of the Spirit will flow in these rivers. The compassion of Christ will flow in these rivers. Power to witness will flow in these rivers. Faith will flow in these rivers.
Conclusion:
Would you like to have “rivers of living water” flowing from you? If you need to be sanctified, why don’t you come and be filled with the Spirit this morning? Jesus invites you to enjoy the Living Water that He has provided through the Holy Spirit. Why don’t you come and drink this morning? Is there anyone here who is thirsting for more of God? Why don’t you come drink from God’s Well?
Endnotes:
1. Stephen White, Cardinal Elements in Sanctification (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press, 1961), 15.
2. Adapted from: “Come Thirsty” by Max Lucado. Pp. 39-40
3. John Bevere, “The Bait of Satan” Charisma House, 1997, page 12, 13.
