Opening illustration: The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish or plant life. What accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great volume of water pours into this area, but nothing flows out. Many inlets plus no outlets equals a dead sea.
This law of nature may also be applied to the child of God, and it explains why many believers are so unfruitful and lacking in spiritual vitality. It’s possible for some people to attend Bible conferences, listen to religious broadcasts, study the Scriptures, and continually take in the Word as it is preached from the pulpit, and yet seem lifeless and unproductive in their Christian lives. Such individuals are like the Dead Sea. They have several “inlets” but no “outlets.” To be vibrant and useful believers, we must not only “take in” all we can, but we must also “give out” in service to others!
Let us turn to John 7 and catch up with what Jesus was talking about being a live Christian.
Introduction: On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Jesus spoke to the people who were thirsty. Obviously, He is addressing the spiritual thirst of the people. It may be that there is a deep thirst in your own soul today. You really want to find the water that will quench the thirst. You earnestly want to satisfy the longings of your heart to know God.
Jesus made a strong declaration that will answer your need. He no doubt had in mind the miracle of the water coming forth (Exodus 17:6) out of the rock in the wilderness as well as the words of the prophets. Christians have long identified Jesus with the rock (I Corinthians 10:4) in the wilderness. Let's allow the declaration of Jesus to speak to us.
How can ‘Rivers of Living Waters’ flow out of us?
How can we be fruitful/vibrant/useful/live Christians?
1. Christ is our INLET (v. 37)
The feast referred to in verse 37 is the Jewish feast of Tabernacles or feast of booths, as we learn from chapter 7:2. According to v. 14 Jesus had gone up to the temple about the middle of the feast. Now it was the last great day of the feast as he stands up to shout the words of our text. The origin of the feast is described in Leviticus 23. Now on the last great day of the feast of booths, Jesus stands up and cries, "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink." Whether the people at the feast grasped the full significance of this or not, we can see from our perspective on John's whole gospel that Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of the Jewish feasts. He was the fulfillment in the sense that the saving power and grace of God which the Jews celebrated were now present and uniquely available in Jesus. The longing for God and for the arrival of his kingdom, kept alive by the recurring feasts, need not be a mere longing any more. God had now drawn near in his Son, and he offered his saving rule to all who would submit. The waiting was over. As Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Everything in the Old Testament had pointed forward to a time of fulfillment. Jesus is that fulfillment.
When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well, he was having a private conversation with a despised Gentile. Here we have Jesus speaking publicly in the temple on the most crowded day of the most popular feast of Israel. Jesus has taken a very direct and public stand. He calls the assembled body of Israel to come and follow him. There is no wishy-washiness here. Jesus uses no slick. Jesus is not being remotely seeker sensitive here. He issues the call, “Are you thirsty? Come and drink!” Do you desire satisfaction? Come and Drink! Are you burdened by the bad things you’ve done? Come and Drink! Are you weighed down by the struggles of life? Come and Drink! Jesus calls and leaves us to consider our response. Jesus calls, and something stirs within us to say, “There’s something right about that man”, and not fully understanding, we follow. Jesus calls, and we follow, knowing that understanding will come.
Now perhaps we are ready to hear the words of Jesus as they come to us: "If any one thirst, let him come." The invitation is universal, and yet it is conditional. There are no ethnic, intellectual, or social qualifications for drinking at Jesus' fountain. The invitation goes out to all. Everyone in this room has a personal invitation from Jesus to come to him and drink. Three Things Implied in Thirsting:
• The gift of the water is free.
• The condition must meet its need: you have to be thirsty.
• The action you must take is to drink.
Therefore receive the free gift of Jesus Christ the only ONE WHO can quench that thirst and give you salvation.
Jesus dies on the cross for our sins. He arose from the grave in power and victory. Now, He sits as the right hand of the Father. He alone was able to atone for our sins. It is through Him alone that we can have salvation. He alone can quench our spiritual thirst. Let us believe in Him and receive the abundant life that He offers to us.
2. You are the OUTLET (v. 38)
Through the centuries, theologians have debated the meaning of verse 38. Do the rivers of living water flow from the innermost being of Christ or the innermost being of the believer? Actually, we can take this verse either way. Both thoughts are true and both are in harmony with the rest of what John says in his gospel.
Barclay (pp. 263-264) writes: "Whether we take this picture as referring to Christ or to the man who accepts Christ, it means that from Christ there flows the strength and power and cleansing which alone give us life in the real sense of the term." Certainly, Christ is the giver of the living water. Just as clearly, the believer receives the living water. We are NOT the INLET (source).
But now notice the difference between John 6:35 and our text. John 6:35 promises that if we believe in Jesus, we will never thirst. It focuses on our satisfaction and contentment. It says that if we drink from the fountain of Jesus' promises, our cup will always be full to the brim. We will not feel the need to fill up the cup of our need with some worldly pleasure or achievement. But our text says more. "If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" The promise is not only that we will be satisfied, but that we will be satisfying. He promises not only that our cup will be full, but also that it will be overflowing for others. In drinking from Jesus we become not merely a receptacle, but a spring or a fountain. Jesus promises that if we drink him into our hearts, he will flow out from us with rivers of living water. No one can be an OUTLET without the INLET (Christ). You will just be dead like the ‘Dead Sea.’ Trying to do all the charitable and good works without Christ might bring temporary benefits but will achieve to nothing at the end.
There are three things we need to see in their proper relationships:
• Our drinking in Christ by a faith which savors his promises
• Our ceasing to thirst as we gain full satisfaction, and
• Our overflowing with the rivers of blessing for others
3. The Holy Spirit is our POWERLET (v. 39, 46)
What is this living water that Jesus talks about? The passage explains it for us — the Holy Spirit. Verse 39 goes on to explain that the predicted New Covenant overflow of Holy Spirit had not yet been given. We know the story of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Later on in chapters 14-16, Jesus talks extensively about the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit will do for us. But here, it is important to pause and consider what this water imagery tells us about the Holy Spirit. We will also find that the –
• Holy Spirit gives us understanding, the
• Holy Spirit gives us satisfaction, and the
• Holy Spirit enables us to be a blessing to others.
The manifestation of the Holy Spirit reveals that "The officers answered, 'No one ever spoke like this man!'" Of all the things they might have said about the volatile situation in the crowds and how an arrest might have caused a riot and gotten the Pharisees in big trouble, they did not cover their backsides that way. They said: "No one ever spoke like this man." This is the power of the Holy Spirit in us not something that is our doing.
This is the fulcrum of the text: this fact—the uniqueness of Jesus in the world—causes a double division. We've seen the first division: the crowds have splintered into three different views about Jesus. Now comes a second division, this time defined by the Pharisees—only this time, there is an intensification because the Pharisees give their diagnosis for each of the three positions. And every time they give the diagnosis of what they think is a false view of Jesus, they dig a hole deeper and deeper for themselves and their own blindness.
There was an experience of the Spirit that could not be enjoyed until Jesus had died for our sins, been raised triumphant over death, and ascended to the right of the Father in glory—namely, the experience of fellowship with the Spirit of the glorified, risen Christ. This is what the Father gives to everyone who believes. The presence and power and fellowship of the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ.
And he is indeed in everyone who believes on Jesus. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:9? “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” If you come to Christ to drink for your soul’s satisfaction, you get Christ. And now we see that he means: You get the Spirit—the Spirit of God and of Christ.
Christ, as the incarnate Son of God, is in heaven. We can’t see his body now. We walk by faith and not by sight. But he is in us (Romans 8:10). We have the Spirit of the risen and glorified Christ living in us. Which means Christ is in us.
Illustration: There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note.
The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “Please prime the pump, believe me it works”!
We have the same choice to make, do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us, and settle for immediate satisfaction? Or do we trust God and give up all that we have to get what God has promised us? I think the choice is obvious. We need to pour in all the water, trust God with everything. Then once we have experienced what God has to offer, the living water, we need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump, believe me it works”!
Application: May the Lord make us refreshing fountains where thirsty souls may drink. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we possess the “water of life” and can be channels of blessing to those in need. From hearts of love, let us pour out to others what we have first received from God. If we do, we will never become Dead-Sea Christians.
• If You Reject Jesus, You Reject God.
• To be a channel of blessing, let Christ's love flow through you.
• If you are thirsty there is only one spring – Jesus Christ
• To be a faucet for Christ, you have to have Him as your source to keep the living water running through you so that others can quench their thirst.
