Energized for Victorious Living
“Come Thirsty”
John 7:37-39
As we celebrate this Labor Day weekend it’s a good time to reflect on our work. Whatever your work is you should be able to work and bring glory to God. If you’re retired your retirement should be lived to bring glory to God.
When the going get rough and tough at work what do you do? When I face challenging times in ministry I often turn to God encouraging word found in I Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” When in your work you seem to produce little results, you know that your labor is not in vain when you are working to glorify the Lord.
A Chinese bamboo plant illustrates when you give faithful service in your work and there are little visible results. When the bamboo seed is planted nothing happens for 3-4 years. Then on the 5th year the bamboo plant shoots up 30 feet tall. A lot is happening underground during the 3-4 years but it is not visible. When you are steadfast in your work to the glory of God you know that your labor is not in vain.
Jesus doesn’t open doors of opportunity for you and then leave you stranded. He stands ready to energize you to accomplish the job He calls you to do.
When one door closes another door opens up as you have patience and plan for the future with faith.
Jesus called 12 disciples and trained them for three years so they would continue to work He started after He ascended into heaven.
Before Jesus left His disciples He gave them the promise that He would send the Holy Spirit to fill them and empower them so they could continue His work and ministry on earth.
In their human strength the disciples did their best to follow Jesus during His earthy ministry, but they often failed. They often argued among themselves as to who should receive the most honors in heaven. When faced with life threatening situations they denied Jesus and ran and hid their identity as Christ followers.
Luke the author of the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts record the command and promise that Jesus gave His disciples before He ascended into heaven. Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit to empower and energize his disciples so they would no longer live in fear but would boldly tell others about the resurrection of Jesus.
Promise of Power
After Jesus rose from the grave He met with His disciples on various occasions during the 40 days following his resurrection to the time of His ascension. On the 40th day Jesus gave His disciples words of encouragement and instruction: “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endured with power from on high.” Luke 24:49
Luke gave additional information on what Jesus said - in Acts 1:8, But, you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.”
The power Jesus was talking about was not political power. The disciples were not to run for political office to gain political authority. The power Jesus promised had more to do with “being” than with “doing.” They were called to be witnesses with their life and words. They were to demonstrate the love of Jesus to a world lacking in love. The power was given from above and not just a natural ability. The disciples were to boldly tell others that Jesus was the Messiah and had risen form the dead and that He was coming again.
What do you know about the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit a type of force or energy or a ghost? Is the Holy Spirit a mysterious feeling?
A study of scriptures reveal that the Godhead is made of up of three distinct persons. The Godhead includes: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Son is the second person of the Godhead and the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead. God is one and not three gods. We call the Godhead the trinity, three persons and one being. The Godhead is three persons working in unity as one.
To fully understand God, His creation, and the Trinity, is beyond human comprehension. We accept by faith the trinity because the Bible teaches the truth and Jesus taught the fact of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, go and make disciples of al the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
The Scriptures clearly teach that God the Father is Creator, the Son is Savior and the Holy Spirit administrates and carries out God’s plan.
Jesus illustrated the work of the Holy Spirit as gushing water. John 7:37-39, “On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone one thirsts let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit has not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
Work of the Holy Spirit prior to Pentecost
The Holy Spirit was active during the time of Jesus, but prior to Pentecost the Holy Spirit came upon individuals for certain tasks. The Holy Spirit come upon Samson in Judges 15:14-17--- Samson had been bound with new ropes and handed over to the Philistines. When the Philistines came to capture Samson “The Spirit of the Lord powerfully took control of Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. The he picked up a donkey’s jawbone that was lying on the ground and killed a thousand Philistines with it”
The Holy Spirit came upon Gideon in Judges 6:34 – “Then the Spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms…”
Jesus taught that it was necessary that he ascend into heaven so the comforter, the Holy Spirit would come and be available to all believers.
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and filled all 120 of the disciples waiting in prayer and in obedience to the risen Lord. Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit filled, empowered and energized the believers. This was the inauguration of the New Testament Church.
Feast of Tabernacles
In John 7 Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem in Judea to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles took place in the Temple Court. The feast celebrated Israel’s journey through the wilderness to their promised land in Canaan. During the feat the people stayed in booths remembering how they lived in tents during the wilderness journey.
Each day of the seven day celebration the priests would go to the south border of the city and fill a golden pitcher in the Gihon Spring that flowed into the Pool of Siloam. As the priests filled the golden pitcher the choir would chant Isaiah 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” The procession of priests and people would march back to the temple and pour the water on the altar as the crowd sang Psalms from Psalms chapters 113 to 118.
On the seventh day the procession to draw water took place seven times. It was probably on the seventh day as they poured the golden pitcher on the Alter for the seventh time that Jesus srood up in the temple and said for all to hear: “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.” John 7:37-38 The Apostle John adds his commentary in verse 39, as one who had experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost during the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. John 7:39 “When he (Jesus) said, ‘living water’ he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the spirit has not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.”
The teaching of scripture is clear – the Holy Spirit is the ultimate thirst quencher. John 4:14, “A spring of water gushes up within that person giving eternal life.” (NCV) In John 4 Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well near Sychar that He could give her living water so she would never thirst again. Water from the well at Sychar would only quench thirst temporary, the Holy Spirit quenched thirst continuously.
Come Thirsty
You must be thirsty to drink from the eternal springs of God. Jesus said, “If you are thirsty, Come to me!” Only those who are thirsty need bother to come.
Have you ever been really thirsty for cool clear water? Have you been so thirsty that your mouth was dry and your lips cracked? You were so thirsty you would give almost anything for a cold drink of water. The Psalmist said having an intense thirst was the way we are to approach God. Psalm 42:1-2a, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God.”
Just as the saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make the horse drink.” So Jesus never forces you to drink of his life giving water. Jesus gives the invitation, “Come thirsty and drink.” If thirst has been lost due to drinking from the wells of this world, you don’t sense a need to drink from the living water of God.
The Apostle Paul challenged the believers in Ephesus, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” Ephesians 5:18 The tense of the phrase “Let the Holy Spirit fill you” is continuous action. Yes there is a crisis decision when you choose to surrender your all to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to make you more like Christ and then you continually come to Jesus on a regular basis. You walk in the Spirit and learn more and more to rely on Jesus and less and less on yourself.
If you are not filled with the Holy Spirit you are filled with your human unholy spirit. Your human spirit tends to be selfish, stubborn and self reliant.
What would you think of a town where all the people who owned cars pushed their cars around town? They would start the car and then get out and push the car wherever they were going. You go up to some of the people and ask they why don’t they stay in their car, push on the gas and let their car take them for a ride. A truck driver says, “I do press the gas to start the car; then I take over.” A town like that may as well join the Amish community where no cars are allowed.
There are some Christ followers who start out trusting the Lord then something comes up and they turn from trusting the Lord and they take over. The more you give of yourself the more you are filled. Total surrender results in total filling.
Put Jesus in the Driver’s Seat
Jesus invites you to take a ride. Jesus does not give you a car and tell you to push it. He didn’t even give you a car and tell you to drive it. Jesus throws open the passenger door, invites you to take a seat, and tells you to buckle up for the adventure of your life.”
Here’s a guarantee. If you stay in the driver’s seat you will crash. If Jesus is driving the car, your ride will end well. There may be bumps and fender benders along the way, but at the end Jesus will say, well done good and faithful servant come with Me into my eternal Kingdom.
Galatians 3:3 NCV says, “Here’s your choice to go through life on your own or go through life engaged by the Holy Spirit.”
The key word to being energized for victorious living is “surrender.” Paul describes the surrendered life in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
When you live a life energized by the Holy Spirit your theme is “Not I, but Christ.” To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to live more and more like Jesus.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will fill, flow and gush out of your inner most being. That’s what happened on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit energized the disciples with power from heaven, the power of the Holy Spirit. The word for “power” is dynamis, the word from which we get “dynamite.” The power Jesus is taking about is spiritual power. The power Jesus is talking about is power that sets people free from self centeredness and liberates them to speak boldly for the Lord.
On the Day of Pentecost, the Feast, that marked the beginning of the Barley Harvest. The Holy Spirit came upon 120 Christ followers praying in the Upper Room. Before Pentecost the disciples were weak and anemic. After Pentecost the disciples became strong, red corpuscle Christ followers.
Satan’s Strategy
C.S Lewis tells the story of an apprentice demon, soon to be sent to earth on his first mission. The demon is preparing for a last minute strategy session with his master. The demon is a fast learner. He has realized that the unbelieving world is already in his master’s power and that it would be a poor use of his time and resources to focus his schemes on the lost. Rather, his strategy is to focus on neutralizing the Christians in their evangelistic work. “They could do the most harm” he reasons, “so I must keep them from the destructive work, modeled so well by Paul 2,000 years ago, of ‘opening the eyes of the unbelieving that they might turn to God from Satan.” Acts 26:18
The demon shares his strategy with his master. “I’ll try to convince Christians that there is no such thing as sin,” he says. “Then they will stop sharing the good news. The answer will soon become irrelevant if I eliminate the question.”
“That is only part of my plan,” says Satan, “but it cannot be the focus, for most of our enemies realize the reality of sin. Even those in our power sometimes, in rare moments of clear thinking, realize sin’s destructiveness. You’ll confuse some of the enemy, but not all of them on this.”
“Well then, I’ll convince the church that there is no hell, that even if there is sin, there are no eternal consequences.”
“Good thinking,” replies Satan. “You will confuse some with this, but still, the prospect of judgment is so ingrained in men, even those in our power, that this will not neutralize the enemy. Most will see through the deception.”
The young demon thinks for a moment, and then a look of triumph floods his face. “I’ve got it! I’ll convince them that there is no hurry. They can have their doctrines of sin, heaven and hell. I’ll just help them rationalize away their lack of conviction on these matters by whispering in their ears, ‘There is no hurry, don’t inconvenience yourself. Save it for later.’ They are all so prone to be concerned with their own cares and problems anyway, that they will buy right into it.”
“You have done well,” says Satan. “You will see great success in neutralizing the enemy with this strategy.”
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to continue the work that He started. Jesus is still doing that today. Jesus would say to each of us, “Come Thirsty.” Come to Me and drink deeply of the well of living water provided by the Holy Spirit. When you do you will flow out in love to the jaded world around you.
This morning let’s get out of the drivers seat and get in the passenger seat. Let’s turn the wheel over to Jesus. Let him take you on the ride of your life. He will drop you off at the door of people who have parched lips and dry souls, thirsty and searching for living water.
Closing Prayer
“Spirit of the Living God” (Chorus)
