Some years ago in the newspapers there was a female novelist found dead in the desert of America. She had died of thirst.
It seems that she had started out across the desert thinking she had enough water to make the trip; However when she stopped to get a swallow she found out that her canteen was empty.
She eventually came upon an oasis where she saw a small little cabin. She went to the front door of the cabin and knocked, but no one was at home. She finally broke a window out and crawled into the cabin looking for water and found none. Finally – disgusted – she started to leave; but barley made it out the door when she collapsed and died.
When they found her body she was only 200 yards away from plenty of water. If she had kept going for just a couple more minute, she would have come to that supply of water.
It is difficult for us to understand that people can die of thirst. But this invitation in Isaiah was given to a people to whom water was a precious item. Many people went thirsty in the ancient land of Israel. Most of the time when you did find water on the surface of the earth, it was contaminated. I have even heard that in modern Israel there is still a scarcity of water.
In America, there is no need for anyone to perish from thirst because of all of our great supplies of water that are readily available to everyone.
The story I shared to begin this message is a picture of the spiritual state of many people today. Many are perishing from thirst, spiritually, even while there is an abundant supply of the Water of Life in reach of everyone in the land. We are blessed not just materially, but spiritually - yet we done even realize it.
Nevertheless;…
I. There are Many Perishing
A. Men are religious.
1. Its just part of our nature that we be religious.
a) There is just recognition on the part of most men that there must be something greater or higher then us.
2. The first two verses in Psalm 42 describe most people today.
a) As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
3. Therefore we are on a continual quest for something greater then man.
a) We worship this thing that we find.
(1) We serve it.
(2) We honor it.
(3) We turn to it in times of trouble.
(4) We prepare to spend the rest of our life preparing for eternity with it.
B. Furthermore – there is recognition on the part of most men that their souls are immortal.
1. That our soul is crying out to be satisfied.
a) That it is thirsting for something that will bring it peace, happiness and contentment.
b) And most people in this world are on a quest to find something to quench this spiritual thirst.
2. But most men are trying to quench their thirst and satisfy their souls at fountains that are not satisfying.
a) The more they drink the more their soul cries out for some different.
(1) And they are still yearning for something to satisfy them
b) They are at a point that they are ready to try almost anything.
(1) Anything that comes along with a spiritual invitation.
(2) But there is something we all need to know and share...
II. There Are Some Waters That Do Not Satisfy.
A. Materialism.
1. It doesn’t satisfy the spiritual longing in the heart of man
a) There are men who have more then enough of this world’s goods.
(1) Yet there is a deep longing in their hearts and souls for life.
b) Like the rich, young ruler that came to Jesus asking for salvation.
(1) People know something is missing.
(2) People know their “stuff” isn’t going to get them to heaven.
(3) People know that their spiritual nature is not satisfied.
(4) They just need to know what will satisfy.
2. The Palmist well illustrates that the waters of materialism doesn’t satisfy.
a) He had wealth, possessions, fame and popularity.
(1) Yet he cried out, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
b) The waters of materialism do not satisfy the spiritual thirsting of men.
B. Morality
1. There are men who are as clean and decent as they can be; but still there is a deep longing in their souls for something spiritual.
a) Their spiritual longing is not satisfied by moral precepts.
2. People in our world today are like the young ruler in Luke 18:18 that came to Jesus wanting to know “what must I do to inherit eternal life”.
a) This young man was clean, he was a moral man.
(1) He even confessed to Jesus that he honored his father and mother and kept the other commandments.
(2) But he had been drinking from waters that do not satisfy.
(a) For here he is asking what he must do to meet that deep longing within him.
b) Morality, even though it is desirable, will not satisfy your spiritual thirst.
C. Altruism – Unselfishness
1. A person can be as unselfish as he can be; but even this will not satisfy that soul which cries out for something more.
a) Bill Gates is the richest man in the world.
(1) The annual Forbes magazine’s list of The World’s Billionaires has ranked Gates as the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2007, with recent estimates putting his net worth over $56 billion.
b) Regardless of what he does with his money, he can’t fill that longing by being a philanthropist.
(1) He can give every bit of that money to feed and cloth the poor.
(2) He can live by the “Golden Rule”.
(3) He can give all that money to churches throughout the World.
(4) And he will still die with a longing for something more.
c) Altruism or unselfishness will not satisfy that deep craving in your spirit.
D. Sincerity
1. We all know people who are just as sincere as they can be when it comes to what they believe.
a) But even with all of their sincerity, there is still a desire in their spirit for something more - something that will satisfy.
2. Men like Nicodemus, who came at night, wanting to know more about what Jesus was teaching.
a) Being a leader of the Jews, Nicodemus was just as sincere in what he believed as anyone.
(1) He even practiced what he preached.
b) Nevertheless there was something within him that was crying out for more than what it had.
c) Sincerity will only leave you with a desire for something more, for it lacks the hydration your spirit desires.
But There Is More...
III. There Is One Water Supply That Does Satisfy.
A. You are here this morning and have tried everything humanly possible to gratify that longing in your spirit; yet you are STILL not satisfied.
1. I have a solution for you – Why not try Jesus?
a) For Jesus can satisfy your soul with full satisfaction.
2. Listen to the invitation in our text:
a) “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” Isaiah 55:1 (HCSB)
3. This is not only for those that are lost, without Jesus.
a) This invitation is for everyone here this morning.
b) If you are drinking from the waters of “Materialism”, “Morality”, “Altruism” and “Sincerity” this morning and you are not completely satisfied; then this invitation is for you my friend.
B. Our text tells us two things:
1. There IS satisfaction at the source of all spiritual life.
2. There IS an abundant and free supply.
a) If your spirit is thirsty this morning I want you to know that you need not go away thirsty.
b) Billy Graham said, “It is contrary to reason for a thirsty person to turn from a pure, sparkling mountain stream to quench his thirst at a stale, putrid cistern—yet that is what the human race does when it rejects God’s truth and standards in favor of the devil’s impure philosophies.”
C. Jesus had a physical thirst once.
1. He asked a Samaritan woman if she could give him a cool drink of water.
a) However He told her that the water He would give her would quench her spiritual thirst.
(1) Jesus said, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:13 - 14 (NKJV)
(2) The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” John 4:15 (NKJV)
Are you “Satisfied”?
There is someone here this morning that is searching. They know that there is more then what they are experiencing out of life. They know that there is more then they see in the life of others. They know that their spirit is dry and thirsty.
You are invited to come to the source of the supply that will quench your thirst. His name is Jesus and He cares for you. Whether you need to come and accept His salvation, come and rededicate your life or any other decision you may have today.
When John the Baptist pointed his ole finger at Jesus and said “Behold, the Lamb of God” two of his disciples left him to follow Jesus. Andrew went and found his brother Simon Peter and said, “We have found the Messiah” Andrew had searched, his search ended when he met Jesus and now he was fully satisfied.
We don’t have to be supersaints, just thirsty sinners.
Again: Are you satisfied?
