“DRINK DEEPLY!” John 7:37-39
FBCF – 3/26/23
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Did you know that there are 4 types of deserts on earth? Polar deserts, subtropical deserts, winter deserts, & cool coastal deserts. Most of us probably think of the sandy subtropical deserts like the Sahara when we hear the word “desert”. I don’t know many people who would want to live in a desert – hot (hottest place on face of earth is the Lut Desert in Iran – temps can reach 159 degrees!), dry, sand for miles & miles, desolate conditions, a wasteland. Just would not be a pleasant place to live.
But there are many people who seem to be content to live their lives in a spiritual desert. There’s a dryness to their spiritual lives, a barrenness, a desolate spiritual wasteland.
David wrote – “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry & parched land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1) David was seeking the Lord earnestly while he was in the literal desert of Judah where he wrote this. Spurgeon: “There was no desert in his heart, though there was desert around him.”
But so many people will just stay in the desert – a spiritual desert – dying of spiritual thirst, instead of coming to the one who can quench their thirst & take them out of the desert.
Today is 4th sermon in “Behold the Lamb of God!” series leading up to Easter.
- “This Jesus” – Eternal Word, Eternal Light, Eternal Son of God
- “Be an Andrew” – Follow his example & bring someone to Jesus – Have you done that this week? Brought someone to church, to Jesus?
- “My Life Verse” – John 3:30 – Mrs. Jo Richardson – Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge & strength, an ever-present help in time of trouble.” Has anyone else picked a life verse since last week?
Today, “Drink Deeply”, as we look at Jesus words in John 7:37-39.
EXPLANATION – John 7:37-39
First, a reminder of John’s purpose in writing this Gospel – John 20:31 – “…but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Context of Jesus’ words here in John 7:
- Jews celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths
- Time of great celebration when the Jewish people live in tents, booths, or lean-tos to remember the 40 yrs that their ancestors wandered in the wilderness.
- That was a long, hard time when an entire generation died while waiting to enter the Promised Land.
- So why celebrate? B/c God provided for them every step of the way – manna & quail to eat. He also gave them water.
- When the people would become thirsty & have no water, they’d start complaining against Moses – “You brought us out here into the desert to die of thirst!” (Ex. 17) God told Moses to strike the rock at Horeb. He did & clean, clear drinking water gushed out for the people. In spite of their grumbling & complaining, God, in His GRACE, provided for them.
- So, for 7 days during this feast each yr, the priest would fill a golden urn w/ water & bring it to the Temple. While he poured the water on the altar, a huge choir would sing & hundreds of instrumentalists would play. The people would cheer & sing Psalm 118 which ends w/, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” 7 days straight of pouring water, singing, cheering, celebrating, worshiping! What an experience!
- Then on last day – THE DAY W/ NO WATER – Jesus stood up – that in itself would’ve gotten their attention b/c rabbis normally sat while they taught. He cried out – “shouted” – “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me & drink.” HUGE impact w/ His words! The Jews immediately understood what He was saying: “I am the rock that brought forth the water that kept you alive in the wilderness. And now, if you’ll come to me & believe, you will live forever b/c I will give you living water from heaven!”
APPLICATION – Only Jesus can quench your spiritual thirst.
Come & drink deeply of Jesus, the Living Water, & here’s what will happen:
HE WILL QUENCH YOUR THIRST
Most of us have never been truly thirsty. We might go a couple of hours without drinking some water – working in the yard or garden, but never truly thirsty. And when do get a little thirst, water is always readily available. Turn faucet on, or grab a bottle out of fridge, or even grab the garden hose like we all did when we were kids.
Advertisers know importance of thirst:
- Gatorade – “For that deep down body thirst”
- Another commercial for Coke – runner finished race, bent over, hands on knees, sweat dripping off of him
- Sprite commercial – “Obey your thirst”
Deep inside every person there is a thirst that cannot be satisfied by anything the world offers. All have that “God shaped vacuum” that only He can fill.
- Thirst for sexual fulfillment so bounce from relationship to relationship
- Thirst for riches so burn themselves out in the pursuit of the almighty dollar
- Thirst for the perfect marriage – wives leave husbands, husbands leave wives – still no happiness
- Thirst for power, intellect, popularity, status, & the list goes on & on
There’s absolutely nothing the world offers that will quench the spiritual thirst that is inside each of us – ONLY JESUS CAN DO THAT!
- You’ll never find direction for your life anywhere else – Jesus is the Way
- You’ll never find the truth anywhere else – Jesus is the Truth
- You’ll never find significance & meaning for your life anywhere else – Jesus is the Life
- And you’ll never find eternal life anywhere else – No one comes to the Father except through Him!
It’s so simple to be saved! You come! You drink! You believe! See those words in v. 37-38? It’s as simple as drinking a glass of cold water on a hot day. Drink deeply of Jesus & He will quench your thirst & give you eternal life!
When He gives you eternal life, He gives you something else – someONE else:
YOU WILL RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT
When you are saved, something unbelievably remarkable & life-changing happens in that instant: You receive Holy Spirit. That is one definitive mark of true salvation. You are deeply changed by the Spirit of God & you know it.
It’s a process – a lifelong process. B/c there’s one thing about water we all know – it leaks. And every Christ-follower in here is both “holy” & “hole-y”! We all leak!
- We let that mouth get in gear before our brains do & off we go into the sin of gossip or profanity
- We let those eyes wander & linger & off we go into lust
- We let the desires of our flesh take over & off we go into sexual immorality
- We let our desire to look successful & prosperous & off we go into greed & materialism
We don’t LOSE the Holy Spirit b/c, if we did, we’d lose our salvation, & we know that can’t happen b/c the Holy Spirit is the deposit that guarantees our salvation. So we don’t LOSE Him but we sure can grieve Him & quench Him. We need to be filled w/ the Holy Spirit many times – Receive Him once – Be filled by Him many times.
- Ephesians 5:18 – “Don’t get drunk w/ wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled w/ the Spirit.” – Lit – “be being filled” – do it regularly & continually
- I like to think of it as spiritual breathing – No, not some New Ages mystical thing – Just a helpful analogy for your spiritual life:
o Exhale – get rid of carbon dioxide out of your system – We confess our sins – Get those impurities out of our spiritual lives
o Inhale – fill our blood w/ life-giving oxygen – Holy Spirit fills us & replenishes us again.
But not only does He fill us…
THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL FLOW OUT OF YOU
Jesus used 2 words to describe the movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives:
- A spring – John 4:14 – “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
- A river – John 7:38 -
What do both of those words tell you about this water that Jesus gives? Not stagnant but flowing. No dead fish floating on top of it. No slimy pond scum on it.
What does that tell you about what our lives should look like as Christ-followers? We are not to be stagnant in our spiritual lives. We are to be moving w/ the Spirit, listening to Him & responding to Him. We are to be serving the Lord w/ gladness & excitement. We are to let the Holy Spirit lead our lives every day.
- Mark Sandifer in Rolling Fork yesterday AM – Just drove in & asked the Lord, “’Where do you want us to serve?’ Just kept driving until He showed me.” That’s the Holy Spirit!
What happens when water is moving?
- It creates energy
- It changes the landscape
- It moves you forward
CONCLUSION
“Come Just as You Are” – “Life everlasting; strength for today; taste the living water & never thirst again.”
