In the sermon 'Are You Thirsty?' by Scott Brown, the central theme revolves around Jesus' invitation in John 7:25-39 for all who thirst to come to Him and drink, symbolizing the reception of the Holy Spirit and eternal life. The sermon explores how Jesus boldly declares His divine origin and mission, despite growing hostility from religious leaders and the crowd's confusion. Brown emphasizes that true fulfillment comes from believing in Christ, resulting in 'rivers of living water' flowing from within believers, a metaphor for the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. The sermon warns against relying on 'broken cisterns,' or worldly solutions, for spiritual satisfaction and highlights the ongoing need for believers to continually drink from Jesus. The Feast of Tabernacles serves as the backdrop for this profound invitation, reminding listeners of God's provision. The speaker challenges the audience to evaluate what they are spiritually drinking and encourages them to embrace Jesus' offer of eternal satisfaction.

I'll be reading John 7, 25-39. Now some of them from Jerusalem said, Is this not he whom they seek to kill? But look, he speaks boldly, and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know, indeed, that this is truly the Christ? However, we know where this man is from.

But when the Christ comes, no one knows where he is from. Then Jesus cried out as he taught in the temple, saying, You both know me, and you know where I am from. And I have not come of myself, but he who sent me is true, whom you do not know. But I know him, for I am from him, and he sent me. Therefore they sought to take him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

And many of the people believed in him, and said, When the Christ comes, will he do more signs than these which this man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him. Then Jesus said to them, I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to him who sent me. You will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come." Then the Jews said among themselves, Where does he intend to go that we should not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and to teach the Greeks? What is this thing that he said, You will seek me and not find me, and where I am you cannot come?

On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scriptures has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive. For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." Please pray with me. Our Father, we are so privileged and blessed to be here this morning, not only to gather together and encourage one another, but to hear from you in your word, to lift our voices, to praise you and worship you, Lord, to be fed and our thirst quenched from your word.

I pray, Father, that you would sharpen our minds this morning, give us a desire to learn and to change, to be affected. Lord, enlarge our hearts to understand these things. I pray, Lord, that you would move mightily this morning, that you would be glorified. I pray that you would empower Scott to minister to us this morning Lord and as he ministers to us would you minister to him Father and give him strength and encouragement and we thank you for these blessings that we will receive. In Christ's name we pray, amen.

One of the most important things that always stands before us as a church is, you know, what kind of people are we becoming as a body of people. Because we're always becoming something, we're always moving in a direction, and in this passage of Scripture we find some of the clearest and really some of the most beautiful statements of Jesus to help a church understand his will for them. What is the will of Jesus Christ for this church, for my life, for your life, our whole corporate life together, what does he want to do to us? What does he want to do with us? And that is answered in this passage of Scripture.

God is very kind to show us what he's doing and what he desires to do in us and with us and for one another. So this passage, I pray, will be just very practical and helpful to all of us. And so here in John 7, 25 through 39, we run across one of the most startling and really life-giving promises that you find in the Word of God. And it's an opportunity to come and drink. And this promise that if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. What an amazing quality of a church. Is there any organization like this in the world where you have this kind of hope for the king of that institution. And here this scene is taking place in the midst of the feast of tabernacles. The families of Israel had already gone up to the mountain of Jerusalem to worship, to celebrate that God pours out water even when you're in the wilderness and they're building booze.

They're camping. Every little boy would love to go camping like that, you know, once a year. And that's exactly what they were doing. And they were celebrating God's kindness in pouring out water in the midst of a wilderness where there was no place really to get water except from God. And at the same time, the hatred of Jesus is escalating.

The temple police are trying to get their hands on him and they just can't get him. There's something holding them back. So this whole chapter is covering eight days of that feast of tabernacles. And Jesus is identifying this marvelous opportunity. And the opportunity is twofold.

Drink for the first time and believe in Jesus and find your heart overflowing with rivers of living water. But it's even more than that. Keep on drinking. Keep on drinking from the river. And you drink from Jesus and He'll he'll cause a river to flow out of your heart and it'll never stop if you keep drinking So whether Whether you need to drink for the first time here this morning or whether you've drunk ten thousand times, keep drinking.

Either way. I think this passage is so helpful because it casts a vision for people who just keep drinking of Jesus, and out of their innermost being flows rivers of living water. So whether you've never drunk or you've drunk 10, 000 times or a hundred thousand times, Probably in a person's lifetime they'll drink hundreds and hundreds of thousands of times. How about that? How about that?

Any moment of a day in the watches of the night you can drink and out of your innermost being will flow rivers of blooming water. I just can't think of a more helpful promise. Our problem though is we're always drinking from the wrong places And Jeremiah spoke about this right in the middle when the Jews were experiencing tremendous difficulty because of their disobedience, because they weren't drinking from the waters of life. And Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah 2.13 says that, that the people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and have hewn for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. You know, the problem with a cistern and what's different with a cistern or a container compared to a river is that containers are limited and things actually can go bad in a container and sometimes you have to clean them out if you let them lie too long.

But rivers are not like that. They just keep on flowing. But it's even worse. Not only is it not so great just to have a cistern of water, but to have a broken cistern that keeps leaking out, that's even worse because there's just not much there. I think all of us can relate to that hymn.

It was written a long time ago, I tried the broken cisterns. I tried the broken cisterns, but how the waters failed. Well, that's what Jesus is speaking of. His cisterns are not, his river is not limited, it never runs out, it's an ever-flowing stream. And that's what is promised, the Church of Jesus Christ.

And that really is probably the greatest defining issue in any local church, in any family, and in any individual. What are you drinking? Because that changes everything. And so God in his kind intentions, He sets before his people an ever-flowing stream, a good well to drink from, and they can drink all their lives long, hundreds of thousands of times, holy and pure water out of the goodness of a holy and true God. And so this is the blessing that we are observing here in this passage of Scripture.

Let's jump into the passage. How about that? Beginning in verses 20 and 29, we encounter what I'm calling is kind of the first division of the thinking here. As you can see, I've divided this passage into four sections. We'll spend the most time on the very last section, actually.

First, Jesus is answering a confused people, and they're not just confused. They're angry and they want to kill him. Secondly, Jesus escapes attempts to take him. And thirdly, Jesus announces his departure. And then finally, Jesus promises living water.

But we'll spend the greater part of the night, and I pray really what we grasp from our time in this passage is really the answers to these four questions. What does it mean to thirst? What does it mean to drink? And what does it mean for the heart to flow rivers of living water? And what does it mean that he spoke of the Spirit?

So that's the scope of what we'll try to accomplish here this morning. So first of all, Jesus is answering a confused people in verses 20 and 29. They're actually more than confused. They want to kill him. They're rejecting him.

Verse 25, now some of them from Jerusalem said, is this not he whom they seek to kill? And then in verse 26, nobody's stopping him. People know that there are people who want to kill him but they're recognizing something's crazy about this. Nobody's stopping him. And so verse 26, but look he speaks boldly and they say nothing to him.

Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? So he's speaking boldly and the people are confused. Why aren't they stopping him if they want to kill him? He keeps speaking on boldly And they're divided. There's this tug of war going on.

Should we believe? Shouldn't we believe? They don't believe. They want to kill him. What are they going to do about it?

What am I going to do about it? That's the confusion that exists in this crowd and people are questioning. And you know, the crowd must have been asking, you know, what will happen to them if they follow Jesus? And I think that what you find here is that Jesus is anticipating their question. He knows what they're thinking.

What will happen to us if we follow this man? These guys want to kill him. And Jesus actually offers the answer to the question that's not actually verbalized in this text. He answers what will happen to them if they believe and if they drink and out of if they do rivers of living water are gonna flow. So he's gonna answer that question.

Now they're they're saying isn't he from Nazareth? Is he the son of the carpenter verse 27? However, we know where this man is from You know, but when the Christ comes no one where he comes he's comes from so they knew where he was from They he they knew his parents. They knew what he did for a living, but there was some thought the Messiah would just come out of nowhere and you wouldn't know where he came from. And there are a couple of statements in the Old Testament that might imply that, but they obviously misunderstood these passages of scripture in Malachi 3.1 where he'll just come suddenly into his temple.

They thought, well, he's just going to come out of nowhere. Well, he did actually come out of somewhere. He came from his father. He came. He passed through the heavens and he came to earth and he was born in a manger and he was born a specific place.

It was actually prophesied in the Old Testament. But you know, where is where is he from? Well, Jesus has already been speaking of this and and actually in the gospel John and in the other Gospels Over and over again. He emphasizes one thing about where he's from. He's from his father In John 3 31 he who comes from above is above all.

He came from above. John 633, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. John 658, this is the bread which came down from heaven. John 639, this is the will of the father who sent me now I could go on for about 10 minutes in the Gospels of phrases like this where Jesus says I came from heaven I came from my father so Jesus has already made it very clear where he came from. They don't like that.

They like the miracles. They don't like what he says about himself. That's actually the real problem. And Jesus answers their confusion in verses 28 and 29. So look at verse 28, then Jesus cried out, notice that statement, cried out, you'll encounter this same thing later on here at the end of the feast.

Jesus cried out, he yelled. You know today it's not all that you know Palatable you know when preachers yell But Jesus actually yelled out there in the temple and he said you both know me and you know where I'm from and I have not come from myself but he who sent me is true whom you do not know but I know him for I am from him and he sent me." So Jesus is crying out in the temple and he's making it clear that they do have familiarity with Christ. They do know where he is from and he has told them and they also know where he is from because they know his family and by the way he's been coming to the feasts every year of his life since he was a baby they know him That's why when he threw the money changes out of the temple, everybody knew who he was. They'd seen his wisdom. They were afraid to touch him.

He was so wise. He was so remarkable that he was able to clear thousands of people and animals out of the temple courts and nobody touched him. He had authority and people understood this was a very very different kind of human being and So that's the same thing is here as well. The issue is really in verse, John 8, 19, you neither know me nor my father. And here he says, you do not know him.

He's telling them that they don't know him. But he who sent me is true, whom you do not know." Now, I think it's important that we just sort of get our wits about us about who he's talking to. He's talking to the most religious people on the planet. He's talking to some of the most well-educated scholars of the Old Testament who ever walked the face of the earth and he's saying, you don't know me. Because it isn't simply head knowledge that saves a person and converts the heart and causes rivers of living water flow.

It isn't just head knowledge. They had all the head knowledge you can imagine. And so He's saying, you don't know me. And then Jesus escapes, attempts to take him. This is the second division here in this text, verses 30 to 32.

Look at this. I always want to smile when I read these sections about the life of Jesus. He slips through the crowd, people won't, they just don't want to touch him because God is in control, that's why. No one can touch anyone without God's sovereign hand allowing it and you see this here but look at verse 30, therefore they sought to take him. They're trying, they're trying, they're trying to take him.

But no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. It wasn't his Father's will that he would be taken, so he wasn't taken. That's it. That's why anything happens in this world. It's not on the Father's timeline.

And all of us are under God the Father's timeline. Now, there's this progressive escalating rejection and hatred and you know we've seen this in the gospel in John 666 his disciples rejected him and left him. In chapter 7 verse 5 his brothers rejected him in 7 1 the leaders rejected him in in 720 the population Rejects him and when you when you finally get after the resurrection in the upper room, there are only a hundred and twenty left So there's this declining Following that you see as a result of the hatred that's being poured out toward Jesus. And so in verse 32 the Pharisees are murmuring and the officers actually come to take him. Verse 32, the Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

So now you have the temple police And they're just, you know, they're kind of moving around him trying to figure out a good time to grab him. And. But, you know, they can't do it. And in verse 45, we read even more about this. I know this is out of the scope of our text this morning, but verse 45, then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, why have you not brought him?

And this is amazing because the officers answered no man ever spoke like this man they were amazed so one of the reasons that these temple police didn't put their hands on him is because they were amazed. And so then the Pharisees said, are you also deceived? Are you going to start following him? So there was all this controversy going on. And the officers here, they're just documenting the wisdom and the power and the grace of Jesus Christ and the irrefutability of His words.

They're testifying to that. But there's this invisible restraint. And then Jesus announces his departure in verses 33 through 36. And he's announcing an impending reality that he's going to leave them. And verse 36 says, I shall be with you a little while longer and then I go to him who sent me.

So he's saying he's going back to his father. He's already told him he came from his father. Verse 34, you will seek me and not find me and where I am you cannot come. And the crowd doesn't completely understand this, you know, where's he going? Is he going abroad?

Is he going to take a trip? Is he going to go to the Greeks and teach them? Is he going to slip away? Is he just going to slip through our fingers again? They're not sure exactly what he means, but he says that he's going back to his father.

You know, we see evidence of this in John 13 verse 3 where we read this, that Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself. So he is going to say this again six months later in the upper room with his disciples. And we know from Scripture that he will ascend from the Mount of Olives and he Will be seated at his father's right hand but there is a time when those people won't see him anymore And I believe Jesus is just warning them of the danger that they're in That there will be a time when he won't be there. They will realize that they waited too long. They didn't believe, they didn't come, they didn't drink, they didn't eat, and the consequences will be dramatic.

And The truth is that God opens a window in people's lives and they hear, but there often is a time when it's too late. And he's announcing that time too late. I believe it was John MacArthur who said, Hell is a truth discovered too late. Just a little too late. And now a little while longer, it will be six months before he'll be arrested and crucified and killed and then finally resurrected.

He'll go back to his father at that time. He's speaking of that time. And so he announces that and there will be eternal regret without hope for those who don't turn to him. And you know this by the way this whole passage culminates in an invitation. It's one of the greatest invitations in the Bible to come, to come and drink of the living waters.

Don't drink too late. Don't desire to drink too late. There will be a time when it's too late. You just need to recognize that. That's what the Bible says.

You may not believe it, But that's what the Bible says. There's a time when the door will close. And don't delay. Don't think for a minute that God wants to deprive you of some pleasure or some good thing. That's not true.

He is the source of everlasting pleasure, everlasting delight, an ever-flowing stream of living water. And then Jesus here, finally, he promises living water. This is verses 37 and 38. And these words should be memorized. They're so beautiful.

And they really do help us to understand what kind of people he wants us to be. And I've found help, You know, even this week from this, to find myself in moments where I realized the need that out of my innermost being should flow rivers of living water. I was with people in moments. Sometimes I felt dry. But do you want to be dry?

Do you want to be without living water flowing from your heart? Do you really want to be without that? I don't. You know, I want to be useful. And there are things that damage our usefulness so the Lord so on that great day the great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out saying if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture has said out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water But this he spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in him would receive.

For the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." So let's take these verses together. Now it's the seventh day of the feast. This is the greatest day. The feast lasted eight days formally, but this was actually the last full day of the feast. Each morning of these seven days the priests would go down to the pool of Siloam and they would fill golden pictures full of water and they would go through the streets singing.

They would go to the temple. They're singing the songs and then they would pour this water out on the altar and so here this is the last day full day of the feast and Jesus is in a prominent place and he's crying out he's crying out really really loudly and he delivers one of the greatest and most important invitations that have ever been delivered. Now there since this is an invitation there there there are always two issues that John the apostle brings out in his gospel. And The first is what will you do with his claims? Because he says he is God.

He says he's from his father. He says he has power over everything. And do you believe that? Because if that's not true, then you should run from him. He's a crazy man.

People who say they're God are crazy and you need to get away from him but but John is always putting before us his claims he is God he is God he's from the father he came not of his own will and he has all authority. I mean, John is constantly saying that he's naming his claims and John will not let us forget his claims because you have to decide what you believe about that. Do you really, do you really, really with all of your heart believe he is who he said he was? That is one of the most critical issues in John's gospel. That's why the word believe is repeated over and over again in the Gospel of John, do you believe, which doesn't mean an intellectual ascent, it means do you with all of your heart entrust yourself to that fact that he is God and that you love him and you want to follow him.

In the previous section the issue was do you want to do his will? That's really the mark of a Christian, somebody who wants to do his will. He loves to do his will, that's a mark of belief. And so John is bringing this major issue of his claims, but the second issue, and it might, and it seems to always follow, it is after you've heard his claims, What will you do with his invitations? Because he issues invitations.

And this is one of the great invitations that is here. So he, you know, they're blowing their trumpets, they're shouting, they're rejoicing, they're pouring this water, they're reciting in this feast, Isaiah 12, with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation and you will say in that day, give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, Make known his deeds among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted. They're quoting Isaiah 12, 6, with joy we will draw water from the wells of salvation." That's what they're singing and saying. Isaiah 12 explains what's happening here with joy.

You will draw water from the wells of salvation. And that you do it once and then you do it every day for the rest of your life. You're drawing water from the wells. And then he says, and you will say in that day, in other words, when you do that, you start talking differently. You talk about different things.

You don't talk about the same things you did before. Because your joy has shifted to Jesus. And in that day you will say, give thanks to the Lord. So there's this picture of drawing water, and then what happens to you? You turn to your brother and you say, give thanks to the Lord and you say call upon his name he's so good that's what happens to you and then you say to one another make known his deeds among the people.

That's what you say when you draw, like something is flowing out of your life. And you start talking about things differently. And he's fulfilling prophecy here, Jesus is. He's fulfilling what was experienced in Exodus 17 when the congregation of Israel was in the wilderness and they were at Rephidim and there was no water and the people said give us water that maybe we may drink and God supplied the water out of the rock and then the Apostle Paul in first Corinthians 10 said that that rock was Jesus that rock was Christ Go read the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 10 and you'll see the explanation there. And so Jesus is explaining what belief actually means in your life.

What will happen to you? Now, another just moment in this scene that we can't miss. Who's he talking to? He's talking to his enemies. He's talking to the people who are saying, that man, you know, by belittling him in every way possible.

He has a demon. He's crazy. He's talking to his enemies. This is his audience. And this is very characteristic of Jesus' treatment of his enemies.

I don't know how you treat your enemies, but it's not my natural inclination to treat my enemies the way Jesus treats his enemies. And you even see this later on, six months later, in his treatment of Judas, who's his betrayer, and he calls Judas his friend. And so Jesus is speaking to his enemies. You know, if we reject him, If any of you reject him, it won't be because he failed to love you. It won't be because he failed to speak to you.

Because he spoke to all of us while we were enemies, while you were yet enemies. Christ died for the ungodly. So if you turn away from him and keep drinking of these broken cisterns, It won't be because he didn't love you and he didn't speak words of love. Because he gave you a thousand reasons to believe. And one of them is, he's got living water for you and you can drink from it every day of your life.

And you might quench the Spirit in the days of your life, but He will make His Himself available to you, and you can drink. But if you don't believe it, it won't be because He didn't love you. It won't be because he didn't speak words of tenderness and kindness to you. He spoke very tenderly to you. But he's addressing those who thirst.

That's implied in the text. In the same way when Jesus said, Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is the same kind of invitation. In that passage, the condition is you're weary and you're heavy laden. In this passage the condition is thirst.

So let's talk about these things here. What does it mean to thirst? What does it mean to drink? What does it mean to flow rivers of living water out of your heart? And what does it mean that he spoke of the Spirit.

So we'll focus on these things now. Now what does it mean to thirst? Because that's really, you need to know what it means to thirst. And to Thirst is to acknowledge a need in your life. It is to have an affection in your heart.

You want something that you don't have. At least that's part of thirst. And it makes it very clear here that saving faith is something far greater than making a decision to follow Jesus. It's much greater, it's bigger than a decision. Saving faith isn't primarily a decision, it is an affection, it's a desire.

It is a belief that Jesus is who he said he is and he is the source of every good thing. That his ways are pleasant ways and all his paths are peace. That he's a tree of life for all those who seek him and embrace him. That's what saving faith is. I really believe in you and I want to follow you.

I want to quit following me. I want to quit following everybody else in this world and I want to follow you. But saving faith is primarily an affection from thirst. And what he's saying is that living water from Jesus is to the soul what water is to the body. You know, you need water or you die.

And it means that you want his water. And I think it's also important to understand that this water is free. The only condition here is that you must thirst to feel in your heart that you need Him and that you want Him, and it's free. And when you're deprived of God, your soul is thirsty. We were made for God.

We were made to need the presence of God, the Word of God. We were made to feed on Jesus. Without that, we're empty, we're hungry, we're thirsty. We don't have what we need. And as a result, we can never be what we ought to be in this world.

But we were made for God. This is such a declaration of the tragedy as to grow up in a country or in a school where they say there is no God. Because what you need the most is God, and they tell you that there is no God, and they tell you you're just another animal. That is one of the most heinous crimes that you can commit educationally is to tell children that. You have committed a mortal crime against them by telling them they're just animals.

We cannot take that lightly. We are not just animals. We are vessels and we need God and that's what we need the most. But the human soul was created by God to need something outside of himself to come inside of him and it's this water of the washing of the word and We need we need him Interesting I just read a little bit about water this week. Everybody knows your body is made up of about 70% water.

All the doctors around here know that. One scientist said that when you start feeling thirsty, you're already about a quart down. That's probably true spiritually as well. You know, there's this hymn, there's a phrase in the hymn that's always bothered me. I've always tripped over it.

It's the hymn, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy. It was written in 1759 and it goes like this, Come ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. So far so good. Jesus stands ready to save you full of pity, love, and power. Good, awesome.

The last verse, the sixth verse. Let not conscience make you linger. In other words, come. Let not fitness not of fitness fondly dream in others don't wait till you get your life together and then he says this all the fitness he require it is to feel your need of him and I've always read that I thought well it's not just to feel a need. But I think Jesus is saying it's really a lot about feeling your need of Him.

You really must feel a need for Him and a desire for Him. And everybody knows that there's repentance and there's faith and all this that's involved in salvation for sure But I don't want to trip over those words anymore all you All you need is to feel your need of Him. It's a very important thing. It's not really the only thing, but it's what Jesus is talking about. It's like David.

He said he was like a deer. As the deer pants for the water brook so my soul thirsts for you, oh God You know one of my favorite Psalms all my whole life long is Psalm 36 8 and 9 They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of your house and you have given them drink from the river of your pleasures for with you is the fountain of life." That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, I am the river of pleasures. I am the fountain of life." So he says, if anyone thirsts, now, do you remember The last words of Jesus on the cross, because in John 19, we'll get to this later in our studies in John, verse 28, John tells us that Jesus on the cross cried out, I thirst. He'd been hanging for six hours on that cross.

It was the fifth word that he said. He'd been mocked and beaten and bleeding and dehydrated and on the cross he quotes Psalm 22 and Psalm 69 and he says, I thirst. Now why? Why did he thirst? Now he went on the cross.

Why did he thirst? There are two reasons I believe why he thirsted first for compassion. He suffered on the cross in the way we suffer to prove his compassion for us in our suffering. And we thirst and he has compassion in our suffering. He thirsted in the same way we all thirst the second is for Substitution for The substitutionary atonement that he was accomplishing on the cross.

He thirsted Yeah, when he thirsted there was no contamination of sin He thirsted perfectly as our substitute when we thirst there's always a little bit of sin in it. We're desperate. But He thirsted without sin. So you must thirst. And then we come to the second drink.

You must thirst, but you must not only thirst because it leads you somewhere. He doesn't just leave us with thirst, he leads us to action, and that is to drink. Let him come to me and drink. And so to drink is to take a step, to embrace, to partake. And he's saying there are many places you can drink, but come to me and drink.

To drink is to believe. And To keep on drinking is to keep on going to Jesus Christ for everything in your life. But you have to drink. We always need fresh infusions of the life of Jesus always and so we'll drink tens of thousands of times in our lives I hope you're drinking right now in the quietness of your own heart you know drink drink it up now drink up these words just keep on drinking drink a thousand times this morning as you're here together in this place but the emphasis is on Jesus In the previous chapter Jesus said eat of me and now he's saying drink of me. Now coming, drinking, believing, having faith, they're all the same thing in some fashion.

There are distinctions but they describe the same affection of the heart to come. But notice what he's not saying. He's not, and I think we should try to get this here. It's a nuance. It's a nuance.

He's not saying, right here in this verse, get from me drink. He's saying drink of me, drink me, drink me. You know, whatever is of him is him and we drink of we drink him and He says drink of me now this gives us a prioritization and focus of him we want to drink so many things but he says drink of me in other words narrow your be narrow minded you know God has already said You shall have no other gods before me. Come to me alone. You know, we heard a preacher yesterday say that When God said, You shall have no other gods before me, he didn't say God is your first priority.

He said that's not what that verse says. It's not like you have the priority of God and then you have the priority of your family and then you have your business and your church. It's not God hasn't set these priorities like this. He says the First Commandment isn't about prioritization. I'll just paraphrase.

He said it's about God enveloping everything you do. He is the only consideration in anything you do and when you think of life as some disconnected priorities you don't understand what it means to love the Lord your God with all your heart. You don't understand what it means, you shall have no other gods before me. You have no other gods before me means drink of me for everything. And that's why Jesus said in the previous chapter, I'm the bread of life, he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.

So now here's an encouragement. So, now here's an encouragement. Of all the places to drink, you won't have to look anywhere else in your life for what fills your mind or for what fills your soul. The journey is over. The quest is done.

You've found living water. You've found him. And you don't need to look anymore. Quit looking. Accept to Him.

You don't need to look anymore. Isn't that amazing? All day long, every day, you'll know where to look. And when you're looking at him you'll always know what to do he'll help you look to him you know I know everybody in this room carried a bunch of problems in here with them look to him look to him alone forget your psychologist forget that article forget the sermons. Forget all these millions of online sermons.

Go to him. Go to him. You know I'm not saying quit listening to sermons. You understand that. But often we go to all the wrong places.

We go to broken cisterns that are really limited. The Word of God is not limited. And then the next question, what does it mean for the heart to flow rivers of living water? Verse 39, but this he spoke of the Spirit from whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given." Now Jesus is speaking of a future event that will happen when he is glorified. You see that at the end of verse 39.

Because Jesus was not yet glorified. And he's referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost which was the beginning of the New Covenant and Something changed the blessing of the New Covenant is that something changed There's a resource and a power in the human soul that never existed before. This is what God does. He serves the best wine last. He keeps escalating his blessing and his kindness throughout life.

He does it in your life. You know, first of all, you get your driver's license and you're so excited about it, and then you get your first car you're so excited then he gives you a wife and you can't believe it and then you're holding a baby it's even more amazing and then he gives you grandchildren and then you lose all your hair but God God escalates his blessing throughout life that's what he does he's an ever-flowing stream he really is And he's speaking of this future event that facilitated this remarkable addition, this improvement to the human heart. And that is the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. That's what he's talking about. Something happens to your heart.

Someone goes into your heart. It is the person of the Holy Spirit. It's not a force, it's not a life force, it's not a ghost the way you think of a ghost. It's a person. And he fills the heart.

And There are these active ingredients in your heart that mix together. You know, it is, first it's the presence of Jesus Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit. And when we get to John 14, Jesus will say, I'm going to send you another helper. And we'll get into detail on this, but what kind of helper is it? Another of the same kind.

There are two kinds of words for another in the Greek language. One is another of a different kind, and the word that Jesus uses is the word another of the same kind. In other words, the Spirit is another, is a helper just like Jesus, just like Jesus of the same kind. And so a person enters your heart called the Holy Spirit and then the Word of God fills your heart, illuminates and convicts and does all the things that the Holy Spirit does. It's like this, and I don't misunderstand me, this magical combination of two things working together, the Spirit and the Word together, working together, in the heart, in your heart.

And then there's something that comes out of the heart. There is a river. He comes in by his spirit and by his word and when that heart is full something comes out. God is like a river maker in your life. He plants a spring, an ever flowing spring of water.

That's what he does. You know, people, like David said, he put a new song in my heart. That's what that's like. Heart. That's what that's like.

Someone and something flows in and something flows out. And it means that you have something good to give to your wife, to your friend, and it's actually alien to you. It comes into you and it flows out of you. It's the work of the Holy Spirit and it isn't designed to glorify you, it's designed to glorify God and something flows from your heart. That's what happens, that's what Jesus wants to do to you.

That's what he wants to do. That's the kind of church he wants to build. People with rivers of living water flowing out. What comes out of your life is what went into your life. And then what does it mean that he spoke of the Spirit?

We'll just continue elaborating on this a little bit here. As the scripture say, I love that phrase because it teaches us that God planned this for a long time ago. God planned this for you a long time ago. You, you, you, and you, you. He planned it for all of us together that there would be the living Word implanted in our hearts.

We would eat of, we would eat him and he and his his life would come out of us in this world. He planned that. The Bible says that the Spirit does different things. I'll give you just a quick course on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. What does he do?

He fills he leads He guides he convicts of sin. He comforts he helps he illuminates This person lives inside of you That's the power of the Holy Spirit. That's why Isaiah said, The Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought. He will strengthen your bones, and you shall be as a watered garden. And like a spring of water, those waters do not fail." These things I have spoken to you while being present with you, but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things I said to you.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, Not as the world gives I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid." You know, It just occurred to me, I preached this text when I was 26 years old to my seminary class in California. It was a long time ago. The water doesn't stay in you, it comes out of you.

You're not a depository, you're a dispenser of water. That's what he is creating, a church of people who are dispensers and the life of Jesus flows out of them like a fountain so the water is for you but it's not just for you It's for everybody else in the church. What's coming out of your life, what's coming out of your mouth, the kind of worker you are, and it really matters what you drink, doesn't it? It really matters what you drink. Where are you drinking?

Where are your children drinking? It matters. What they're drinking is what's going to come out. You want to drink Hollywood? That's what's going to come out.

I guarantee you, you can't beat it. Now, we can quench the Spirit. There are different things that we can do to harm our usefulness and our blessedness and what comes out of our hearts. We can quench the Spirit. We can not eat very much of him.

And we can drink brackish water. Those are the things that we can do to harm the overflow. And we all do that, don't we? We all do that in different ways. Anybody seen the news lately?

Not against reading the news, but there's an awful lot of brackish water out there and I get messed up by it all the time. You know, you know, when I get discouraged, you know what my wife says to me? Have you been dumpster diving again? In other words, have you been looking at stuff that's not feeding your soul good things? You know?

Yep, dumpster diving again, absolutely. Well, the Bible says, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." David said, Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. David said, examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my mind and try my heart. Examine your hearts.

Where are you drinking? Dumpster diving, anybody? Going to the brackish water? Not drinking enough of the right water? By the way, by the time you get thirsty, you're probably a quart down.

Let's drink. Let's drink and let's be filled with the Holy Spirit in our church. Let's make our supreme desire and devotion to eat of Jesus. We have a whole day today set aside for that. What a blessing.

There is a delicious meal waiting for us to eat. The Lord's Supper is right ahead to come and eat and drink of Him, to participate in that Lord, we thank you that you are good, that you are an ever-flowing stream. We thank you for your design for us. We thank you that out of the kind intentions of your will, you've desired all of these things for us, your people. Amen.