The Unstoppable Invitation Of Jesus Christ Series

Have you heard someone say, “I wouldn’t bet the farm on that if I were you?” There are many things in life we CANNOT count on. You CANNOT count on a politician’s promise. You CANNOT count on the weatherman’s forecast. And you cannot count on the pastor when he says, “I’ll be just one more minute.” ?. Yes, there are a lot of people in life that you CANNOT count on. But there’s one you can bet the farm on, and His name is Jesus.

Open to John 7 with me, if you will.

Today’s Scripture

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, ‘Why did you not bring him?’ The officers answered, ‘No one ever spoke like this man!’ The Pharisees answered them, ‘Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ‘Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee’” (John 7:37-52).

Sermon Preview

1. I’m What You’re Looking For

2. I’m What You Didn’t Know You Needed

3. I’m Sending What You Didn’t See Coming

I want to answer this question with you this morning:

Where do you go to fulfill the deepest desires of your life? And if you found the One who is the deepest fulfillment of your life, would you walk past Him?

1. I’m What You’re Looking For

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37-38).

1.1 Living Water

The gospel of John uses many metaphors to describe the greatness of Jesus. Jesus is the light of the world. He’s the bread of life. And here, Jesus offers His followers living water. Why water?

1.1.1 Background to the Water Symbolism

The setting is Jerusalem, and we are about in the middle of a 3-year-plus public ministry of Jesus. The city is hosting a religious harvest festival that has drawn people from all over. The ancient city of Jerusalem is teeming with people. The reason Jesus chose water here was connected to the final day of the feast. Imagine a parade, if you will, where the priests drew water in a golden pitcher from the Pool of Siloam and then poured it out on the altar. As the water was poured, everyone cried out, “‘Give thanks to the Lord!” three times.

As people watched the priests march with the water, someone would give 3 blasts from a shofar (a ram’s horn). As the priests marched, the temple choir sang Psalm 113 - Psalm 118. The thought behind all this in the festival was that it was a picture of when the Lord would pour out His Spirit in the last days.1 The entire festival was to remind the people that there was a day when their Hebrew ancestors lived in shacks. There was a time when your Jewish ancestors were thirsty. Then Moses struck a rock, and God provided water flowed from a rock in the middle of a desert. And God saved their lives. Now, Jesus surveys the entire scene, having witnessed the festival many times before. He stands up and declares to anyone and everyone, “I am all that you have hoped for.” In essence, Jesus says, “I not just information for you to believe. I am One for you to experience.” Jesus says, “People are empty. A direct experience with me is your reason for living.”