The sermon 'Knowing Half of Jesus' by Jason Dohm emphasizes the danger of understanding only a partial truth about Jesus Christ. It explores John 7, focusing on Jesus' interactions during the Feast of Tabernacles and the confusion among the people regarding His identity. Many knew Jesus' earthly origins but failed to recognize His divine nature as the Son of God. The sermon highlights the necessity of acknowledging both Jesus' humanity and divinity for true salvation. It also discusses the theme of spiritual thirst and fulfillment through Christ, urging immediate acceptance of Jesus' message. The sermon concludes with a call to fully embrace Jesus' identity to experience eternal satisfaction through Him.

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 those 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 shall not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and 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 have 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." The title of the sermon this morning is, Knowing Half of Jesus. We have a crowd of people who know something about Jesus. They only know half of Jesus. They are only willing to embrace half of the truth of Jesus Christ. It's a fatal mistake for many throughout the centuries and in our own day.

The backdrop, as Jim alluded to, of our text is the Feast of Tabernacles. And beginning at the first of the chapters, his brothers had made themselves Jesus' counselors. And they advised him to go and put on a show at the Feast of Tabernacles. They say that if he is really doing these miracles, Galilee is not the place for the Messiah to do his miracles. There is no such thing as a backwoods Messiah.

You should go to Jerusalem and do your miracles there. And however you interpret that, the text is clear and explicit that this is advice that's coming from unbelieving hearts. That this time in their lives, his brothers did not believe in him. They had not received him as Savior. And so, Jesus doesn't go immediately to the feast.

He follows along after. And he comes into Jerusalem unannounced with no fanfare. And in the middle of the week, he presents himself and teaches publicly in the temple. This week our text says that the people are saying he is teaching boldly in the temple. So while he came unannounced, he didn't stay unannounced, in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is an eight day long feast, he comes right into the thick of things, right to where all the action is, and he begins teaching.

And he affirms that his doctrine is the doctrine of the one who sent him. He teaches the doctrine of God Almighty. And then he challenges them on the Sabbath. That's significant because that's why they wanted to kill him. We saw that the last time he was in Jerusalem, at least in the Gospel of John, was John chapter 5, when he had healed a man on the Sabbath, and then in his explanation of it, he had made himself equal with God.

So those two things together have the Jews wanting to kill him all the way back in chapter 5. So that brings us to where we are in our text. As we come to the text, let's ask for the Lord's help. Our God, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for sending your Son into the world.

May we know Him fully. May we know Him as He truly is. May we know Him as your scriptures reveal Him. Everything that's true about Him we want to embrace. We know this is the essence of saving faith, to put our hope in the name of Jesus and all that he is, all that your word declares him to be.

Let us have hearts that embrace all of Jesus. We pray in his name, amen. I would like to divide up the text and I would like to begin with verses 25-31. So hopefully you still have your finger in John chapter 7. Let me read again some of what has already been read.

25-31. 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?

So in this section we have the question, is Jesus truly the Christ? There's a great amount of confusion about the identity of the Lord Jesus. You sort of have a public debate playing out before our eyes in this text. So if you are taking notes on the handout and you are filling in blanks, it is Christ. Is Jesus truly the Christ?

Looking back at last week's text in verse 14, about the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and taught. When he does this, Jesus says, when Jesus says, why do you seek to kill me? So he is teaching in the temple courts, he is challenged. Jesus says, Why do you seek to kill me?" So he's teaching in the temple courts, he's challenged. Jesus says, why do you seek to kill me?

In verse 19, the people answer, you have a demon who is seeking to kill you. But now in our text, there are some from Jerusalem who are saying something different. They have a different perspective. Why? They are a lot closer to the truth.

They know the deal. And the deal is, in Jerusalem, where the leaders are, people understand that their intent and desire is to kill Jesus. We saw that in chapter 5. Maybe people coming from elsewhere in Israel were unaware of it. So they are caught by surprise when Jesus says, why do you seek to kill me?

But now these who are from Jerusalem, some in Jerusalem are articulating this different perspective because they are closer to actually what's happening. They know and recognize that the leaders really do want to kill Jesus. So they know this. They know the leaders want to kill Jesus, but they see Jesus right out in the middle of the temple courts teaching boldly and no one is saying a word to Him. He goes, He teaches.

They know that the leaders have said that they want to kill him, but not one of the leaders is saying anything to him, so they think out loud, are our leaders conceding that this is really the Messiah. That's the essence of what is happening. Have they concluded? Have they changed their minds about Jesus? Did they once want to kill Him, now they've decided that it really is the Messiah, So they leave him unmolested in the temple courts as he teaches boldly.

But they seem to answer their own question. He can't be the Messiah. How do they know that? Well, they know where Jesus is from. When the Christ comes, they won't know where the Christ is from.

At least that's what they're saying and thinking. What is this about? About. Let's look at verses 40-42. Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, Truly this is the prophet.

Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, will the Christ come out of Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was? So there was a certain division among the people because of him. Now some of them wanted to take him, but no one laid hands on him.

The text says, some said that the Christ will come from Bethlehem and be from the line of David. Now we know Jesus was born in Bethlehem and that he was from the line of David. Both from Joseph's side and from Mary's side he's from the line of David. The point of this is you have different views of who the Messiah would be and what would characterize him. We have multiple views even within the same chapter just verses apart being articulated.

There are different theories about the Messiah. And one is reflected in the text we have before us today. And it was based predominantly on Malachi chapter 3 verse 1. So let me read that to you and then consider how this fits into what the people are saying. Malachi 3 verse 1, Behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me.

So this is who? This is John the Baptist. Behold I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold he is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.

Based on Malachi 3 verse 1, that the Messiah, the forerunner would come, and then a Messiah would come suddenly to his temple. And they concluded that He essentially appears out of nowhere. He would come suddenly, unexpectedly, mysteriously out of nowhere. This was a view of what would be happening when the Messiah would come. The Expositors Bible commentary quotes a rabbinic saying, listen to this, three things come holy unexpectedly.

The Messiah, a godsend, and a scorpion. The rabbis were saying this. This sort of articulates the view of a messiah who comes out of nowhere into his temple to cleanse and redeem. There was an expectation that this would be a totally unknown man, never before on the scene. But that doesn't fit the profile of Jesus at all.

Jesus has been toiling away for 30 years in a carpenter's shop in Galilee. You can find his mom, you can find his brothers and sisters, you can visit the carpenter's shop, you could seek out his childhood friends. If you subscribe to this theory, Jesus wasn't the guy. Jesus is not your Messiah. Now Jesus addresses this, but in an unusual way.

He cries out. This is a very forceful term in the Greek. When you look at the other usages of the Greek term in the New Testament, there are a number of them, they drip with urgency. Meaning, this is an urgent proclamation that Jesus is making. This is not a dispassionate lecture in the temple courts.

This is a prophetic utterance. Now Jesus being God and Jesus being the Messiah, really every utterance he had is a prophetic utterance in a sense, but this is like the prophet coming among the people saying, the Lord says this, dripping urgency. And then what is it that he says? We have it in verse 28. Look again.

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." This is what Jesus is crying out in the temple court. Now, There are different views about what exactly Jesus is saying when he says, you both know me and you know where I am from. Because there is a sense in which neither one of those things is true. Some people think that he is speaking ironically, that it is a form of sarcasm.

Oh sure, you know me, and you know where I'm from. Knowing that they really have not grasped his identity at all, and they really don't have a good understanding of where he's from. And that could be so. But I actually take the other view. So here's a test based on previous weeks.

What is Jesus' favorite self-designation? Son of man. Over 80 times in the gospels, Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. He calls himself Son of Man over and above any other title going away. So son of man.

There's lots wrapped up in the term son of man. One of the things that is obvious in son of man is Daniel chapter 7. If you called yourself son of man, a good Bible-knowing Jew would go immediately to Daniel chapter 7, where one like the Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days and he is given an everlasting kingdom. Jesus is absolutely laying claim to be the fulfillment, to be the Son of Man in Daniel 7 who receives an everlasting indomitable kingdom from the Ancient of Days. He is absolutely laying claim to that when he calls himself the Son of Man.

He is also the second Adam. Adam is your father, but for those who are saved, you are actually not represented by Adam anymore. You are represented by the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He was a man and He stood in your place and died the death that you deserved and took upon Himself the penalty for your sins. Jesus is a man.

He had a human mother. He was a baby. He grew up. He had a personal history. He had childhood friends.

He had people who knew Him. Jesus being the Son of man is as essential to his saving mission as Jesus being the Son of God. Now just let that sink in for a minute. Because I believe this is exactly what Jesus is owning here when he says, you both know me and you know where I am from. Jesus being the Son of Man is as essential to his saving mission as Jesus being the Son of God.

You cannot be saved unless Jesus is a man who can be known, who had a human mother, who grew up and had a personal history like you and I have a personal history, who was tempted in every way and yet without sin, he must be the Son of Man. And so he owns it here. Jesus is essentially saying, it is true. I haven't come from nowhere. I'm not this mystical messiah who appears out of nowhere.

You do know my family. You can visit the Carpentry Workshop and track down my childhood friends. Jesus is setting him forth as one who has lived the life of a substitute. A life like your life. A life of a person who can be known.

You could know where they are from. You could know them. You could meet them. They are a person with a personal history. Jesus is the Son of Man.

Here's the deal. If this is all you are willing to attribute to Jesus, you only know half. If this is all that you are willing to attribute to Jesus, you have made Him very much like you and He cannot save you. At most you will concede that He is a prophet like every other prophet. Just a man who received words from God.

Not a man who came from heaven. He was sent from heaven, sent by God, in order to lay his life down as a substitute. At best you'll think that he is a prophet or a great moral teacher. So Jesus owns being the Son of Man and yet he also tells them what they don't know, what they aren't recognizing, though he has said it again and again and again already in the Gospel of John. Though he is the Son of Man, he is also the Son of God.

There are two natures within him, both necessary to saving a people. He tells them that He has not come of Himself but He has been sent from heaven. Our history began when we were born. Jesus' history wasn't even close to beginning when he was born. Jesus is eternal.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. That's Jesus' beginning. My beginning is April 7, 1970, at Fitzsimmons Naval Air Hospital, Denver, Colorado. It's not Jesus.

He was there in eternity past with the Father. In the fullness of time, God sent him from heaven to live the life of the Son of Man, also being the Son of God. Jesus says that the Jews who by and large are unbelievers, now let that sink in for a second, the Jews who by and large overwhelmingly were unbelievers. They had the name of being the people of God, but overwhelmingly they were unbelievers, and they don't know this God. So they had the Scriptures when the whole Gentile world was missing the Scriptures.

They had a history with God when the Gentile world enjoyed none of those privileges, and yet they did not know this God. They knew all about this God, many things about this God, but they did not know this God. But he said that He knows this God. Jesus knows this God. There really is a God to be known.

He really did send Jesus. He is from Him. He was sent from him. This is so offensive to his hearers. These are more hard sayings.

We just had the hard sayings of chapter 6, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, There is no life in you and everyone forsook Him. Now we have more hard sayings. You Jews don't know God, but I know Him and I am sent by Him. Now imagine being a Jew and hearing this. You don't know God, I know God, I'm sent by God.

I'm telling you what God is saying. I as God am saying to you the words of God. How offended you would be. That sends shock waves through the listeners. James said something during communion.

It was probably a year ago. And it jolted me. And he said this, the Jews don't worship the same God that we worship. And I thought, I think James has lost his mind. But isn't it true that after Jesus came, and we have the fullest revelation of God, that those who reject him as God, reject the God of the Trinity, they start stripping persons out of the Trinity, they strip two of the three persons out of the Trinity, it is not the same God!

It is not, he was right. The Jews worship a different God. They strip two of the three persons out of the Trinity. How can you say we worship the same God? They have the same Old Testament.

They have the same promises. They have not seized upon those promises. The Jews, when they hear these hard sayings, and the offense rises up in their hearts, they have a choice. They either have to accept Jesus and the things that He is saying about His identity, or they have to hold Him as a blasphemer. Jesus has taken all the middle ground and punted it far away.

The middle ground is gone. He either is who he says he is and they don't know God. Or he's a blasphemer and they have to deal with him as a blasphemer. And you know what the Jews chose. Right now, right at this point in the text, they seek to seize Jesus.

But they can't. We don't know why they can't. Just that the text says they can't. They want to, but they can't. They intend to, but they can't.

They are restrained. Why? Because Jesus is on a divine calendar. Jesus' life is on a divine calendar. Things don't happen one second sooner than they are supposed to on the divine calendar.

And Jesus' hour has not come yet, so even though they want to, they can't. His hour is going to come in six months, or six months away from the Passover that will be celebrated where Jesus will be crucified. By the way, between now and the end of John, we're going to see this again and again and again. They wanted to seize him, but his hour has not yet come. We see this across all four Gospels, but we're going to encounter it even in the Gospel of John, time and time again, before the end.

We're going to see Jesus on the Divine Calendar. People wanting to do things that they're not at liberty to do because God is King and God rules. However, everyone is not driven away by the hard sayings. Look again at verse 31. Verse 31.

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? What a great question. That is the question that everyone should have been asking. What more would you want from the Messiah than Jesus has been doing? Turn to Luke chapter 7 verses 19-23.

In Luke chapter 7, verses 19-23, John the Baptist is in prison and he sends two disciples to ask Jesus a question. There's a couple of ways to interpret this passage. I'm just going to pass right over the top of that because that is not our text for today. And it doesn't matter for the point I'm trying to make. Luke chapter 7 verses 19 through 23.

And John, this is John the Baptist, called two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus saying, are you the coming one or do we look for another? When the men had come to him they said John the Baptist has sent us to you saying are you the coming one or do we look for another? And that very hour he cured many infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits, and to many blind he gave sight." So they come and they ask the question, and the same hour in front of their eyes he works these miracles. He casts out devils, He makes blind people see, and He heals the sick. Verse 22, Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard.

The blind see, The lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the gospel preached to them, and blessed is he who is not offended because of me." In answer to the question, are you the Messiah or should we wait for another Messiah? The answer is, I do the works of the Messiah. God, when He made the promises to send a Savior, He gave the marks that would identify him. So it wouldn't leave the people guessing, is this the Messiah or not the Messiah? When the dead are raised, it's the Messiah.

When the blind see, it's the Messiah. When the lame leap like a deer, like it says in Isaiah, it's the Messiah. Jesus answers the question by doing the works right in front of their eyes and then he sends them back to John the Baptist. Tell them what you've seen. He'll know how to interpret that.

Listen to John 10 verses 37 and 38. John 10 verses 37 and 38. Jesus says, If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me. But If I do, though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him." When you go back and look at what the Messiah was supposed to be, Just go back and look at the prophetic messianic text, the prophecies about what the Messiah was to be doing, the marks of the Messiah, and you see Jesus checking them off in his life, one after the other. He is doing the works of the Messiah, and he's bringing the people to this truth here.

And people have gotten it. Maybe the leaders didn't get it, but that was not ever it. Many believed in Him and they asked the right question. What would you want the Messiah to do more than Jesus has been doing in our midst? For a period of two and a half years now, Jesus has been doing these things.

Back to our text, next section. Verses 32-36. 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 shall not find him? Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks and 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." In these verses we have Jesus speaking of going where others cannot come.

So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's come. Going where others cannot Come. Jesus lived a life on earth. He was completely accessible. A time is coming where He will not be accessible to the people He is speaking to now.

The Pharisees have detected the undercurrent of what the people are saying. They are actually not saying it openly. They are whispering. This is not on the surface. This is beneath the surface.

We heard last week why that is. They are afraid of the leaders because the word is getting out. If you declare this man to be the Messiah, you are in trouble. They're afraid of the Jews. The Pharisees have detected this undercurrent.

They and the chief priests and officers, The officers that would be at their command were essentially temple guards. They were security for the temple and beyond though. They had the ability to command them. And the chief priests and officers, or the temple guards, are sent to seize Jesus. Now John the Gospel writer passes right over this but if you just read this and you didn't know the deal you might you might be left with the impression that the Pharisees and the chief priests were of one mind.

They seem very unified here. But the chief priests are overwhelmingly Sadducees. Pharisees Sadducees. And Never the two shall meet, meaning they didn't agree on much at all. They normally despised each other.

They normally opposed each other. They had fundamentally different views. They occupied a fundamentally different place in Jewish life. But as is often the case, and you can see it even today, people who can't agree on much agree on opposing Jesus. So they act in a unified fashion, and John the Gospel writer just passes over it.

But we should notice that. Because it teaches us not to be surprised about what we see often all around us. People who don't agree on much agree on hating Jesus and opposing Jesus. Now understand, Jesus is speaking to people in their unbelief. He is speaking to people who are rejecting him and his claims to be God's Savior.

Listen to Isaiah 55 verses 6 and 7. I'm going to quote Isaiah 55 later. Oh, everyone who thirsts come to the water. So I'm quoting a different place. Same chapter.

This chapter is a wonderful cross-reference to our text. Listen to Isaiah 55 verses 6 and 7. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon." These listeners are in a period of assessing Jesus, coming into contact with him, hearing his claims, and accepting or rejecting him as the Messiah. They're right in the middle of this happening as it's playing out before our eyes in this text. They are assessing whether they are going to accept or reject the claims of this man to be the Savior sent by God to redeem a people. Now, Isaiah 55 verses 6 and 7, there is an admonition to seek the Lord while he may be found. The idea is there is a window of opportunity that doesn't stay open forever.

We don't like that thought. We like the thought that we can pick and choose at any time, that we could go a whole lifetime rejecting Christ, and then on our deathbed we'll trick God by accepting Christ then. Do you think you'll do that? That's incompatible. Now, are there deathbed conversions?

Probably. More often than not, people die as they have lived. But more often than not, deathbed, quote unquote, conversions are a grasping at straws and not genuine faith at all. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.

The people listening to Jesus now are in a window of opportunity and sinners like to think that the window will stay open forever But the Bible tells you you're a fool if you think that Life brings to certain to you circumstances thought patterns Days relationships that you didn't plan and anticipate, and they take you in a direction that you couldn't foresee. If you think the window of opportunity to receive Jesus and his claims will stay open forever, you are disconnected from the Council of Scripture. That is not true. You are not the sovereign over the circumstances and your thought patterns and the relationships and what's going to happen in the future God is. Proverbs 1, wisdom is personified.

Wisdom becomes a person who's calling out, Receive me, receive me. Listen to Proverbs 1.28. This is after personified wisdom, wisdom in person form, has called out and been rebuffed and rebuffed and rebuffed. And then in Proverbs 1.28 we read, then they will call upon me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.

The Jews don't get what Jesus is saying, but if they knew the Proverbs well they should have been thinking about this verse. And the window of opportunity that comes to a person where the claims of Jesus Christ are pressed upon them and there is a window of opportunity to accept Jesus as he has set himself forward to be. And if you rebuff and rebuff and rebuff and rebuff, The day will come where you'll be in need and you'll call and not get an answer. And you'll seek diligently and not find. That's what Proverbs says.

This is true for everyone. This is not just true for the people who are listening to Jesus in John chapter 7. This is true for you. This is true for me. Those who reject Jesus as Christ cannot come where He is.

Jesus doesn't develop that at all, but you develop it now in your own mind. What is the alternative to coming where He is? There is a lake of fire. The fire is not quenched and the worm does not die and it is eternal. It extends forever.

Your life is a breath against the backdrop of eternity. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the great dividing line. Every eternal destiny will be fixed on this point. Did you receive Jesus as the Christ, or did you rebuff wisdom when wisdom cried out to you? Jews don't understand.

They think Jesus might be contemplating going to the dispersion. What's the dispersion? Throughout Israel's history, when they were rebellious, sometimes God dealt with that by bringing foreign nations upon them and taking them into various captivities. It happens through time. And so there are pockets of Jews around the known world that are leftovers from those captivities.

Some came back, some stayed in these outer regions well outside of the boundaries of Israel. This is the dispersion, these pockets, these Jewish communities in various places. It says the Greeks, King James actually translates it instead of Greeks, Gentiles. Either one would be an appropriate rendering. It's literally Greeks.

But it's figuratively, that's really of the whole Gentile world. This is a Greek world that Jesus is speaking to. Meaning, what's the New Testament written in? Hebrew? No, Greek!

That's because the influence of Greece with the Greek Empire is everywhere. It is the common language in the known world. Of course the irony, and So what the Jews are saying is, is Jesus going to flee, get away from us and our intent to deal with Him, to kill Him, by going outside the borders of Israel and teaching among these pockets of Jews outside the boundaries of Israel where we can't really get at him. Now think of the irony of this. This is exactly how the Gospel turns the world upside down.

The early church does go to the dispersion. Paul is the apostle sent to the Gentiles, but that's not how he starts in his missionary journeys. He's going to the dispersion. These pockets of Jews, he preaches to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. So what they're saying actually is fulfilled in the life of the early church.

Jesus going to the dispersion in the Gentile world. Finally, verses 37-39. 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 scripture 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. In these verses we have instructions to the thirsty. So if you're taking notes on the handout and filling in blanks, it's thirsty. Instructions to the thirsty. Jesus addresses the thirsty and he tells them what to do, where to go, to have their thirst quenched.

The feast of Tabernacles started and ended with a Sabbath rest. The Feast of Tabernacles is two Sabbath rests with the days in between. It's an eight day feast. So now we're on the last day. Jesus came into the temple in the middle of the week and now we're on the last day.

It's called the great day of the feast. And Jesus stands and issues another prophetic utterance. He's crying out. In fact, I just read that wrong. Jim read it exactly right.

He's crying out in the temple. It's another prophetic utterance. And what does he cry out? Well, again, he cries out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow living waters." There are four things I'd like to say about Jesus giving these instructions to the thirsty.

Number one, we've already heard this from Jesus. So flip back to John chapter 4. Flip back to John chapter 4. You remember the woman at the well. She's not even a Jew, or at least not wholly a Jew.

She's a Samaritan. And Jesus meets her at the well. I actually want to read John chapter 4, 5-14. So we've already heard this from Jesus. Now the Jews get to hear it.

The Samaritan woman and the people of Sychar have already heard this. John chapter 4, 5-14. So he came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being weary from his journey, sat thus by the well.

It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. And the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? Jesus answered and said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.

But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." So what Jesus had said to the Samaritan woman about living water that springs up into everlasting life. He is now teaching to the Jews at the feast of the tabernacle. This is a call to the thirsty. It's a call to a specific group of people. Not everyone.

It's a call to the thirsty. If anyone thirsts, Isaiah 55 verse 1, Ho, everyone who thirsts comes to the water. So it's a comprehensive call to all who are thirsty. Everyone who thirsts is called to come to the waters. Even if you have no money, you can come by and eat.

That's Isaiah 55. So, all you need, you don't need money, you don't need to work, you don't need to do, All you need is thirst. Everyone who is thirsty is told to come. Anyone who is thirsty is told to come to the waters of Jesus. And the waters are there for the asking.

That's all you have to do. All you have to be is thirsty. All you have to do is ask. Now what exactly does it mean to thirst? Here's what J.C.

Ryle says. You thought we were coming to the end and there's going to be no Ryle quote. Yes, there is. Ryle says this. It means anxiety of soul, conviction of sin, desire of pardon, longing after peace of conscience.

When a man feels his sins and wants forgiveness, is deeply sensible of his soul's need and earnestly desires help and relief, then he is in that state of mind which our Lord had in view when he said, If any man thirsts. The Jews who heard Peter preach on the day of Pentecost and were pricked in their hearts. The Philippian jailer who cried to Paul and Silas, What must I do to be saved are both examples of what the expression means. In both cases there was thirst. That's hitting the nail on the head.

It is feeling an intense need and a desire for satisfaction. It is the people on the day of Pentecost who were confronted with their sins and the punches landed. They felt it. They knew that Peter was right. So their hearts were pierced.

And they ask him, brothers, what should we do? And he tells them, repent and be baptized. It is like the Philippian jailer, who asked what he must do to be saved. They asked because they thirsted. They felt a craving in their souls that they knew they had no ability to satisfy, and so they went, they asked.

And Jesus is not just enough to fully satisfy you into and through eternity, but he also provides an overflow to others. Out of your hearts will flow rivers of living waters. This is how the gospel made it to me. If this wasn't true, I don't think I would be saved. God saved someone, actually He saved a number of people who were in my life, and they did speak words to me, but I could see that they were being transformed by a river of living water.

So what they said was coupled with the experience that could be observed in their lives. They were being transformed by sustaining life giving waters. And hearing those words and seeing those transformations made me thirsty. Made me thirsty. But it was other people.

It's not like I stumbled upon a Gideon Bible in a hotel room drawer and I read and I was saved. That's not how I was saved. Some people are saved that way. Praise God for that. I was saved though because there were rivers of living waters and real live believers that were overflowing.

Maybe that's how you were saved. It probably is how you were saved. So that was the first thing I'd like to say about this. We've heard this before. Jesus offered the living waters to the woman at the well.

The Samaritan woman. Number two. Jesus says this is as the Scripture has said. Now you'll not find an Old Testament Scripture where this is a direct quote of it. So it's not one quote that Jesus then, what he says next, is a quotation of it.

It's actually a representation of what you find over and over again in the Old Testament, that The blessing of God is like water in the soul. Listen to these. I've just picked out a few. By the way, this week my study notes were totally out of control. I had 14 pages of study notes.

I like to have six. It's comfortable to write a sermon when I have six. I had fourteen this week, and I have fourteen last week. And I'm looking forward to James preaching next week. You deal with all the stuff.

A full page was Old Testament references of water, of which Jesus is the fulfillment. So I plucked some out for you. Listen to Isaiah 44.3. For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground. I will pour my spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring." Isn't that what Jesus is talking about?

Isaiah 55, 1, Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Isn't this what Jesus is talking about? Isaiah 58, 11, the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul in drought And strengthen your bones. You shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Isn't this what Jesus is talking about? Or Ezekiel 47 verse 1.

Then He brought me back to the door of the temple, and there was water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east." So in Ezekiel chapter 47, I'll just summarize what the next 12 verses say. It's about water flowing underneath the door of the temple east, because the temple is facing east, and it keeps rising. It is at ankle level, then it is at knee level, then it is at waist level, then it is at chest level, and they are healing waters. Trees are growing on the sides of the rivers. It's like Psalm 1.

Like a tree planted by the rivers of water, whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. It's like Psalm 1. Or Joel 3 verse 18, And it will come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drip new wine, the hills shall flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall be flooded with water. A fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord.

Isn't this what Jesus is talking about? Or Zechariah 14 verse 8. Zechariah is just filled with prophecy about the Messiah. Zechariah 14 in particular. Zechariah 14 verse 8.

And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem." Jesus is just drawing on all this abundance of Old Testament imagery and saying, I am the fulfillment of that. Listen to What the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 4. Paul is talking about the people of God in the times of the Exodus. And he says, all drank the spiritual drink.

They all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Paul is looking at the instances of water being supplied out of rocks for the people because they were in the wilderness, there's no source of water, so God gives them a rock that gushes forth water. And Paul says that's just a picture of Christ. What the water was physically gushing out of this rock for the people of Israel. Jesus Christ is spiritually for the people who come to him and are thirsty.

So that was number two. Jesus says this is as the scripture has said. He is just drawing on this great wealth of Old Testament prophecy that He is really the fulfillment of. Number three, this is something that is not in scripture, But it concerns a Jewish tradition that is thoroughly attested in history. Meaning what I'm getting ready to say is not in dispute that this is historical fact even though you won't find it anywhere in the Bible.

When you look at the Feast of Tabernacles, particularly in Leviticus 23, it prescribes a lot of things that the people of God should do during this feast. Mostly it's rejoicing. But there are also sacrifices every day during the span of these eight days, and there were other things that they would be doing including once every seven years reading the book of the law. Here's something that developed as tradition among the Jews and this was absolutely happening at the time of Jesus. It is that a priest in the morning would take a golden pitcher to the pool of Siloam.

The pool of Siloam was very near the temple, would take a pitcher, it would fill it with water, they would come to the temple, the halal would be sung, Psalm 113 through 118, James has already referenced this, and then the priest would march around the altar once and pour out the pitcher on the altar. And this was to be emblematic or a picture of God supplying what they needed in the wilderness wanderings. So, like water out of the rock that God supplied during the Feast of Tabernacles, day one, a pitcher from the pool of Siloam sing the halal, march around the altar pour the pitcher over the altar. Day two same thing day three same thing through day six same thing day seven seven times you pour it out back to the pool you march around you pour it out back to the pool seven times and it was it was like marching around the city of Jericho, and That is really the end of the wilderness wanderings and being brought into the land of plenty. So you see the symbolism.

Now on day eight, by the way, in tradition, in the tradition that had developed, you did that the first seven days of the feast, but there was no water pouring ritual on the eighth day. Now, the last day of the feast has come. Jesus stands up in the temple and He says, I'm the fulfillment of all that we've been doing this week. If you're thirsty, like the people in the wilderness were thirsty, I am the rock that gushes water. I will come and indwell you.

Remember verse 39, I haven't said anything about it yet, but this is really the Holy Spirit. This is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, rivers of water welling up in the heart. So this is number three. This tradition that's not in Scripture, but Jesus absolutely was doing this on the last day after these water rituals had been taking place, culminated in the seventh day by seven pitchers of water on the altar. And then Jesus stands up and says, if anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink on the eighth day.

Fourth thing, last thing I'd like to say about this, no one but God speaks like this in all of scripture. I dare you, I challenge you. Find a prophet in Old Testament or New who says, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Only God says these things. Now Prophets might say, Thus saith the Lord, Repent and return to me.

You'll find that, but you'll not find someone standing on their own identity to say, Come to me and drink. If you're thirsty, you come to me and drink. In Old Testament and New, you can search until your eyes bleed, you will not find it. Only God makes these claims. And what Jesus was saying was not quite yet a reality.

John the Gospel writer adds this in verse 39, 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. Now we see the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. We see him in Genesis 1. He's hovering over the face of the waters. We see the ministry of the Spirit over and over again, and it's called the Holy Spirit.

And he's called out in the Old Testament. So it's not like the Holy Spirit is a New Testament invention. No, far from it. But He's not poured out as an indwelling ongoing presence into His people until the day of Pentecost. That's what's being said here.

Listen to what Jesus says in John 16 verse 7. John 16 verse 7, Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send him to you." As hard as it is to believe or to think that it would be an advantage that the physical presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, you would be deprived of that and that would be a good thing, It is better for the people of God that the Spirit would be poured out and He would indwell you in an ongoing way. That no Saint prior to the death and the resurrection and the outpouring of the Spirit ever experienced before. Rivers of living water flowing out of your heart.

Applications, I have four. Who is Jesus? This is the central question you must answer. Who is he really? Many only know half of Jesus, if that much.

They're willing to concede that he was a great teacher, that he was a prophet. Many religions even lay claim to Jesus as a prophet, as a great teacher, as an example to be followed. Many think well of Jesus, because they only embrace half of Jesus. They make Him a man like ourselves. You cannot be saved that way.

Who is Jesus? He sets himself forward as the Son of Man and the Son of God. You embrace him in his fullness and you are saved. If you embrace a half Jesus, it is not a saving Jesus. Number two, if you're a Christian, you are immortal until the minute your work is done.

Just like Jesus. If you're a Christian, you're immortal. You're living on a divine calendar. And the day of your death will not come one second sooner or later than it has been plotted from eternity past on the divine counter. It was so for Jesus, but it's so of me too, because I'm a Christian.

It's true in a different way for non-Christians. You don't have a choice. You live on the divine calendar. There really isn't another calendar. I'm saying this to give us confidence as Christians.

Nothing can touch us until the time appointed for us by God. Number three. If you're thirsty, go immediately to Jesus. Don't listen to people who tell you to go to a church. Church will not save you.

Don't listen to people who tell you to go to morality, turn over a new leaf, try harder, do better. That will not save you. Don't listen to people who tell you to be baptized. That will not save you. Don't listen to people who tell you to be baptized.

That will not save you. Don't listen to people who tell you, you need to participate in the Lord's Supper. The sacraments are everything. They will not save you. Don't listen to people who tell you to go to an elder.

Nothing I have to say other than the things I'm saying now will save you. There is one mediator between God and man. One. Jesus. You go to Him or you're lost.

There's only one person who can negotiate a peace between you and your sinful self and this holy God. It is only Jesus. But if you feel that need, if you are thirsty, go to Him. Go to Him. He'll satisfy you in time, He'll satisfy you in eternity.

Welling up to eternal life through all eternity, your soul will be satisfied in him. Any Christian who has been living in the faith for a period of decades, can say, He's more than I ever thought He would be. He's more. I'm tremendously disappointed in myself, but I've never been disappointed in Jesus. Number four.

This must be the essence of our Gospel Proclamation. When you boil down our Gospel Proclamation, you have it here in verse 37. If anyone thirsts, let him come to Christ and drink. That is the essence of our Gospel proclamation. If the things that we're saying don't have a direct line back to that, if they're not just an expansion and an explanation of that, we need to go back to square one.

Our job as evangelists as Gospel preachers are to identify and awaken thirst and unbelievers if God would give us grace and to send people to Christ to have their thirst quenched. It's so easy to get off track and to actually be preaching a gospel that we don't really believe ourselves. The gospel doesn't require. The gospel requires that you be thirsty and that you come to Jesus. Period.

It has all sorts of implications in your lives, but the gospel isn't the implications of the gospel. You're different. Father, thank you for this text. It is beautiful. Thank you for your son Jesus Christ.

He is beautiful. Oh, let our hearts love him. Let all who are thirsty come to him and be satisfied. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.