John 7 (3)
Living Water
- Read John 7:37-39
It was the last day, that great day of the feast. For 6 days, the people of Israel had been staying in booths, remembering how the Lord had brought them out of Egypt, and how He had provided for them during the 40 years they had wandered in the wilderness. They’ve been celebrating and thanking the Lord for the harvest they have just finished collecting. They have been doing this for 6 days.
Each day the people would worship. Each day water was poured out at the base of the altar, remembering how God had given them water in the desert. Every day there were countless sacrifices, so many that all of the divisions of priests would have to be on hand to perform all of the sacrifices.
Each day the people would visit with friends and catch up with family that may have been scattered across the empire. At the end of each day, the people would return to the booths, the huts of branches they had assembled, and sleep under the stars.
It was a great and festive time for the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the city of Jerusalem.
But this was the last day, the great day of the feast. This was the climax. On this day, the people made their way to the city wearing their most festive clothes. Each worshipper would carry a special configuration of branches. As they began to assemble in the city, the people would separate into 3 groups.
Some would remain at the temple. Another group would go in procession to Maza and gather willow-branches to adorn the altar with a leafy canopy.
The third group would follow a Priest in procession from the temple down the valley to the Pool of Siloam. When the procession reached the Pool of Siloam the Priest would fill a golden pitcher from the waters of the Siloam.
Music would be played along the way.
They then went back—timing their journey so that they reached the Temple just as the morning sacrifice was being laid on the Brazen Altar. A 3-fold trumpet blast welcomed the Priest as he entered through the Watergate.
As the Priest ascended ‘the rise’ of the altar he was joined by another Priest carrying wine for the drink offering.
These two priests come to two silver funnels leading down to the base of the altar.
Into the eastern funnel the wine is poured. At the same time the water is poured into the western funnel. (Both the wine and the water represent the Holy Spirit in scripture.) As the priest pours the water the people are shouting for him to raise his hand.
Immediately after the water is poured the people begin the response chant rooted in Psalms 113 to 118… which focuses on God’s faithfulness… and to remind God of His promises.
The pouring of the water signified the prayer for abundant rain which was necessary for the growth of their crops.
Everything comes to a great moment of joy, and there is silence.
Then from the back of the crowd comes a voice, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believers on Me, as the scripture that said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
Oh, the impact that statement made.
There are a lot of thirsty people in our world. Steve was thirsty. He was going through what some would call a midlife crisis. He had been working many years in a career that didn’t seem to be going anywhere. As he watched his parents age he realized that time was running out. There are so many things he wanted to do in life and the opportunities to do them seemed to be slipping away. He thirsted for meaning and purpose and fulfillment.
Regina was thirsty. Looking at her, people would say she was a typical teenager. She made decent grades and was into a few outside activities. She had never really been in trouble. But high school would not last forever. The “real world” waited for her. College, jobs, marriage, family: it all seemed so scary. Regina thirsted for acceptance, direction, hope, peace.
Catherine was thirsty. The kids had grown up and moved away. Occasionally she saw the grandkids, but less and less now that they were in school and her daughter in law had gone back to work. One day while she was at the grocery store she suddenly found a 4 year old with his arms around her knees giving her a hug. He looked up and realized he had grabbed the wrong grandmother and ran off to his grandmother, who was further down in the same isle. At that point Catherine realized that was the first time she had been hugged in a month and it was by accident. Catherine was thirsty for assurance, for affection, for hope, for love.
Jerry was thirsty. He had made so many mistakes in life. Some of them big and some small. He had hurt people and alienated people. He had lived for the day with no thought for the future. He was empty. Jerry was thirsty for forgiveness, for joy, for peace for salvation.
And Jesus says, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.”
As we look at this passage today, notice first if you will, the openness of the invitation.
I. THE OPENNESS OF INVITATION
- v37
If any man thirst. That’s a pretty open invitation. And that’s the way the gospel is. It is open to everyone.
> John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believers on Him should not perish but hath everlasting life.”
It is an open invitation. If any, whosoever . . . salvation is open, available to everyone.
Some have the idea that they have waited too long, or that they have done too much bad, or hurt too many people, to be saved. Jesus says, If any . . . that’s a pretty opening invitation.
You see God created us to have a relationship with Him. He created us to fellowship with Him. We are created in His image, by His hand, from His wisdom, to have a relationship, to have fellowship with Him.
You can go anywhere in the world, among any people group and you will find people worshipping. They may worship trees, or animals, or a pile of stones, or an altar they have set up, or a statue they have formed, but you will find people praying and you will people worshipping, God designed us that way. And, without a true relationship with the true God, there is emptiness. There is a constant longing that is never filled.
Jesus says, come.
II. THE CONDITION OF THE INVITATION - v37
If any thirst . . .
There is a condition to our coming though, and that is that we recognize our need. If any man thirst.
We have to recognize our need.
Over the years, I have never really followed sports too closely. I grew up when the Miami Dolphins were dominating, and being from Florida, that was my team. Other than that, not too much. As long as it’s a Florida team that’s winning, at whatever sport, then I’m happy.
Then, I married into Gladys’ family. They were all Cardinal fans. I can live with that. But, with this marriage also came a niece who graduated from UT, and who thinks the sun rises and sets on the Vols. I remember one Christmas morning, her whole family, her, her parents and siblings all came down the stairs wearing TN Volunteer colors. If that won’t ruin the Christmas spirit, I don’t know what would.
They came down and visited one time and she had a Lady Vol tag on the front of her car. I told her it was nice of her to show support for her football team.
Not only did she love the Tennessee Volunteers, but she hates the University of Florida. She said they hated Florida so much that they didn’t even have Gatorade on her college campus.
Where would we be without Gatorade?
Here in Florida, it can get pretty hot. It can get pretty miserable. Now, imagine trying to play competitive sports in that heat. Imagine being a football player and doing 2-3 practices a day in that heat.
This is was what The Florida Gators football team was going through every single year. The coaching staff asked the college’s school of medicine for help because water just wasn’t cutting it- the players would drink gallons of water and would still suffer from heat exhaustion and cramping. The school of Medicine came up with a recipe for fluid replacement which included water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice.
Basically, they took the IV solution of Lactated Ringers and made it taste good. The coaching staff immediately saw a much better performance during practices, and they dominated teams in the second half of football games played in Florida over the opposing teams, and is even credited for the Florida Gators winning the 1967 Orange Bowl. The university decided to market the drink to other athletic programs, and Gatorade was born.
You have to realize there is a need, that something is missing, and you have to go to the right source. Sadly, many look for substitutes.
III. THE SAD SUBSTITUTES
One of my son’s teachers was the fitness coordinator for a local high school football team. Occasionally she would vent to Drew. Her complaint? Even though water and sports drinks like Gatorade were best for folks who are sweating and in athletic endeavors, the coaches of the team would have their players drinking tea before the games.
Now, tea is a diuretic. It makes you lose water even more, instead of replacing what you lose. So, each time the kids played, by the 2nd half of the game, the players would be cramping up and unable to play. Instead of getting what they really needed, they got a substitute that added to their problems.
Sadly, that’s what many people do instead of seeking a relationship with the Lord. Instead of pursuing the one thing, the one person that can bring peace and satisfaction to their lives, they look for substitutes.
> Jeremiah 2:13 "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
Instead of looking for contentment in the one person who can bring that peace, who can fill that void, sadly, we look everywhere else.
1. Work - We look to our work. And try to find fulfillment in the things we do. We look back on a lifetime of service and work, only to discover that we will soon be replaced and forgotten.
Some of you are familiar with the names Adrian Rogers, and W. A. Criswell. Dr. Rogers pastored Belview Baptist Church in Memphis, TN. I remember the first time I set foot in that church. My roommate, who was from Wachula, FL. I was from Enterprise. The first time we set foot in that church we stood in the sanctuary and looked around at all of the seats and I said, “Jay, do you realize this church has more people in it than both of our hometowns put together?”
Dr. Rodgers was president of the Southern Baptist Convention for 2 years. He helped support the seminary I attended and was instrumental in it moving from Little Rock Arkansas to Memphis, TN, and then eventually out to Cordova, right next to the church he pastored.
Dr. Criswell, was the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, TX for 5 decades. He was regularly on TV and the radio. He served as the president of the Southern Baptist Convention for 2 years, and he, along with Dr. Rogers are credited with the conservative resurgence which took place in our convention in the 70’s, which turned our denomination around from following other mainline denominations down the path of Christ-denying liberalism.
Yet, in a recent survey of new seminary students coming into the seminary I attended, only 10% of the incoming, wannabe pastors, knew who those 2 men were.
We strive to do our best in the professions the Lord calls us to, but our value, our worth cannot be found there.
2. Family - Some of us try to find our worth and our value sin our families.
Families are a great thing. The Lord designed and created families. He intended for children to grow up in loving homes where they could be taught, and loved, and nurtured. A place where they could see modeled before them what a God-fearing mother and father looked like; who loved and cared for one another.
I am very grateful for the family I grew up in, and the one I have now. But, if we seek to find all of our worth and value in our families, that means our happiness and our joy is dependent on other people. And if those folks can bring us joy, then they can take it as well.
God never intended for us to find our value and worth from our families. They can never fill the void intended for God.
3. Money - Some of us try to find our value and worth, our sense of well-being, from accumulating money. We work and work, and save and try to accumulate more. How much is enough? Just a little bit more.
Of all of these pursuits the writer of Ecclesiastes says, “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
What do people gain from all their labors
at which they toil under the sun?
Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
All of these things seem good for a while, but ultimately they are disappointing.
When I was a youth pastor, I lived on Crulley’s Ridge, in Arkansas. Most of that part of Arkansas is delta, but Crulley’s Ridge is a rock outcropping that runs for a pretty good distance across the state of Arkansas.
Now, back in the day, being on a rocky ridge, it was difficulty to put in wells, so many of the people originally had cisterns. Some of you are familiar with cisterns. It was usually a hole in the ground used to collect and hold water.
I was talking with one of the older members of the church one time and he told me that the water in the cistern wasn’t too bad in the winter and spring. The water would be cool and clear. But, he said, come summer time, you had to run the water through cheese cloth to screen out the mosquito larva before you could drink it.
Sadly, that’s what we find when we try to come up with alternative ways to be filled and content in life, apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
In the beginning, that new career is fun and exciting. In the beginning, that marriage and family is exciting, that new hobby is fun, that new car is neat, but after a while we discover that none of these things can bring, the joy, the happiness, the contentment we are really looking for.
My friend, you will never find true peace, true contentment, apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, there in the Sermon on the Mount?
> Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
King David knew that, that’s why he wrote in
> Psalm 42:1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
And again in Psalm 63:1-2
> Psalm 63:1-2 "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary
IV. THE INVITATION
Come to Me.
Some people have the mistaken idea that God is just out to get people, that He looks for opportunities to judge and punish. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The gift of His Son Jesus Christ should dispel that idea, but think of all of the invitations we are given in the Bible.
> Matthew 11:28-29 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
> Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
> Isaiah 55:1-2 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
> Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
Again and again, through the pages of the Bible we are repeatedly invited to have a close relationship with the Lord. Why? Because He loves us, and created us for that relationship and knows that we will never be truly content apart from it.
And look at the promise Jesus gives us in verse 38.
- Read verse 38.
Not just enough to get by. Not just enough to hang on, but enough to share with others. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water!
Can you imagine? Not just enough of the Lord and of His Spirit, to help you make it through the day, but so filled with the Holy Spirit that you are a blessing, and encouragement, a help to those around you.
That’s why David was able to write in the 23rd psalm, my cup runneth over. Not enough, but more than enough. Blessing upon blessing, upon blessing.
Let me ask you my friend, is that the life you are living today? Is that the joy you are experiencing today? If not, would you invite Jesus Christ into your heart today . . .
Perhaps some of you need to clean some mosquito larva out of your water. You have allowed so things into your life that are robbing you of your power and joy and peace.
Would you pray this morning, “Lord, change me?”
Today if you walk through the supermarket and look for something to drink, you see dozens of options.
Coffee Drinks, Fruit Drinks, flavored waters, protein drinks, and of course a few dozen different brands of soda. That doesn’t even include the various beers and alcoholic beverages available.
Quenching thirst, just with soft drinks, is a 200 billion dollar/year industry in our country, and competition is fierce to provide that one drink everyone will love.
Jesus says, come to Me. I have what you really want.
