[0:00] The following message is given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.! For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at TrinityGraceAthens.com.
[0:12] ! Anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.
[0:36] Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
[0:47] This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. Praise God. Please be seated. Prepare to crash. Prepare to crash.
[1:05] Those were the last words from the Green Hornet. In the spring of 1943, the World War II combat plane, nicknamed the Green Hornet, and its 11 crewmen set off on a rescue mission across the Pacific Ocean.
[1:21] Nearly 200 miles into the trip, the plane lost its two engines, two left engines, and spiraled into the sea, exploding upon impact.
[1:34] On board the Green Hornet on that day was Louis Zamperini, a nationally known track star who ran in the 1936 Olympics and was expected to be the first ever to run a sub-four-minute mile.
[1:50] The good news? Louis miraculously survived. The bad news? No one knew he survived.
[2:02] And he was stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for the next 47 days on a raft. As he drifted, he faced many challenges.
[2:15] The sun burned and blistered his skin. The salt water caused his body to break out and sores and his lips to swell.
[2:26] Without food, his lean frame continued to wither more and more for 47 days. But there were other challenges. Sharks!
[2:37] Imagine being on a raft and sharks. The sharks would come. The gang of 12-foot sharks would occasionally come and poke his little flimsy inflatable raft.
[2:49] But there were also the Japanese. Somehow, they spotted Louis on his little raft and more than once shot it up.
[2:59] But the greatest threat to his survival was not the salt water or the raft or the Japanese or the sharks or any of these things.
[3:09] It was thirst. You can think, how could thirst be the greatest threat to his survival? He's surrounded by water.
[3:20] As one author puts it, talking about this story, all he could see, this is Louis, all he could see in every direction was water. Cool, crisp, clear water.
[3:31] It looked like drinking water. Felt like drinking water. Even sounded like drinking water. How could thirst be an issue? Well, because Louis was surrounded by 64 million square miles of salt water.
[3:49] And he couldn't take a single sip. Now, even though we aren't drifting, praise God, in the middle of the Pacific on a flimsy inflatable raft, we are still surrounded by salt water.
[4:07] The world offers us so much to drink, you know. It's not just Gatorade that the world offers to quench your thirst. It offers us power.
[4:18] Come, chase power. That's what you need. Come, drink it in. Or approval or comfort or control or success. Isn't that what you want? The one with the most toys in the end.
[4:30] That's what you need to drink in or satisfaction or security or sports, as Bo talked about a moment together. All these things, they offer so much.
[4:41] They look so crisp, clear, clean, and great. But each of these glasses are just another variety of salt water.
[4:52] This Easter morning, we're going to take up two simple verses where Jesus invites us to drink that which will truly satisfy.
[5:05] Now, over the years, we've handled so many different resurrection texts. This, in some ways, doesn't seem to immediately apply to the resurrection. But Jesus offers this invitation to a specific people in a specific time.
[5:19] But Jesus Christ, praise God, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And this invitation does not come from Him, from earth. It comes from the right hand of the Father on high, where the Lord is inviting us to come to Him.
[5:36] And perhaps in a way like we never have before, to find salvation and satisfaction only in Jesus Christ.
[5:49] This invitation remains throughout every generation. That's what it means, that He lives. And it could not be more important. My plan is simple.
[6:02] This morning, we're just going to walk through these. This is a pretty small text for me, you know. We're going to walk through these verses just one phrase at a time. So that hopefully we feel the force of this invitation.
[6:15] Briefly, let me set the context, though. The people are gathered. You saw a feast referenced in verse 37. The people are gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. It occurs in the fall during the harvest.
[6:26] It was a time when the people thanked God for providing for them throughout the year and appealed for God to provide for them again, to appeal for rain. In many ways, appeal for rain for the harvest.
[6:38] And so it was also a time, though, when the people remembered how they were in the wilderness. If you remember that, when God delivered them from Egypt, He didn't immediately take them into the promised land. They took a detour through the wilderness so that they could see that God was a God who keeps His covenant and His promises.
[6:55] And so their shoes did not wear out while they were there. God provided for them. And so during the feast, they slept in tents. Some of you would like to do that again, you know.
[7:05] Some of you, not so much. But they slept in a tent to remember how God provided for them with bread from heaven, with manna, right? With water from the rock.
[7:16] The idea is God has no limitations. Interestingly enough, over the years, water began to play a big role in the feast. Not just in the sense they're crying out for rain, as we do.
[7:30] Although this week we're praying for it not to rain today. And thankfully, the Lord answered our prayer, it seems. But each day of the feast, a golden container was filled with water and was carried by the high priest into the temple.
[7:43] As it was carried, the people gave thanks and sang. So this water became the central part of this feast.
[7:57] And so at the end of the feast, Jesus talks about some different water. Now, Jesus was here and He created quite a stir.
[8:08] In Jerusalem, probably 250,000 people would come in during some of these feast times. And the people were enamored with Him. Religious leaders were angry with Him. And on the last day of the feast, He cried out with this staggering invitation for people to come to Him and drink.
[8:25] So let's look at this invitation. Jesus begins, If anyone thirsts. If anyone thirsts. The invitation of our Lord in these verses and throughout Scripture is astonishingly wise.
[8:37] It is for anyone and everyone. Everyone knows what it feels like to hear about an invitation which you did not receive. Well, there's no one that can claim they did not receive this invitation.
[8:51] That's what Jesus is saying. Immediately, nothing can keep you from receiving this invitation from the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, Sinclair Lewis.
[9:29] I do like Sinclair Ferguson a lot. That's not who wrote this book. It describes an older, respectable man who ran off with a younger girl. Not that that's ever happened.
[9:40] Thinking he was in love. After the fires of passion died down, the young girl says to him. Now listen. On the surface, we all seem so different.
[9:51] But deep down, fundamentally, we're the same. We're desperately unhappy about something and we don't know what it is.
[10:04] A lot of wisdom in that. You know, it captures so well. On the surface, we all seem so different. Looking around this room, you guys are very different. I'm very different. There's differences that divide up our world.
[10:17] Rich and poor. Strong and weak. Old and young. Big and plain. Tall and short. The world recognizes these differences. You know, that store big and tall recognizes there are people that need to go to that store.
[10:30] I remember the guy that led me to the Lord. He used to call it big and tall and fat and bald because he was all for. But deep down, Jesus is telling us we're all the same.
[10:46] We're desperately unhappy about something and we don't know what it is. We've tried all sorts of things, but we're still thirsty. We're frustrated and annoyed. If it's not one thing, it's another.
[10:59] We're weary and exhausted. We're tired of trying to keep up. Tired of trying to do it all. We're tired of being tired. As one friend says to me, we're unhappy.
[11:11] Though our hands are filled with so many things in the West, you would never know. We're uneasy, though we strive to do the right thing.
[11:22] We are like that children's book. There are monsters underneath our bed. There are things we're afraid of. There are things we have done that we never should have done and we're running through life from them.
[11:37] Thirst here, I believe, is intentionally vague so that no one would put themselves in the category that they cannot come to Jesus Christ. Do you thirst for true forgiveness?
[11:48] I remember as an unbeliever, I thirsted for true forgiveness. A true clearing of the decks. A true wiping of the slate. A true, real, fresh start. Everybody talks about fresh start, but the only real fresh start is in Jesus Christ.
[12:01] Well, that's what's offered here. Come to me. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. You thirst for purpose. Do you thirst for that?
[12:12] That's what the Lord offers here. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Do you thirst for joy? That's what the Lord is offering. Joy that the world cannot hold a candle to.
[12:26] Why? Because the Lord gives more joy to them, to those who follow him, than to others when their wine and grain abound. A joy that's uncircumstantial.
[12:38] Untethered. That's what's going on. Anyone thirsts. He says, let him come to me. Come to me. The invitation of our Lord is wide. It is for anyone and everyone.
[12:49] But it's incredibly personal. If anyone thirsts, let him come. Let him come to me. One of my favorite movies is Cinderella Man.
[13:00] That's getting a little bit older now. But it's a true story of boxer James J. Braddock and his fight to provide for his family during the Depression.
[13:11] It's a movie everybody can watch. As long as you like a little blood. During one part in the movie, Braddock is washed up. He cannot get a fight.
[13:24] He's in the middle of the Depression, which means he cannot provide for his family. So he has to go to the docks to get work. He has to go to the docks down there in New York to unload ships that are coming into the harbor to get work.
[13:41] The problem is, nobody has work. And so everyone's at the dock. One of the scenes is, captures all these guys pushing up against the fence.
[13:53] And the men, I guess, who are hiring for the day come out and they just pick a few. You. You. You. You. Come and get work.
[14:06] Well, Jesus is doing a similar thing in this passage. This invitation is for anyone. But most importantly, this invitation is for someone. It is for you. So, this morning, this invitation is from our Lord Jesus Christ to you.
[14:26] Whatever seat you find yourself in, whatever circumstances you find yourself in, but you must come. Jesus is asking you to do something in this passage that no one else can do for you.
[14:41] Others can help you do. They can lead you down to the water. There's a pool of Siloam, but you've got to crawl in. You've got to respond. Let the one who thirsts.
[14:52] So, everyone and anyone in this world thirsts. The question is, what are they going to do about it? And that's what Jesus is talking about. Come to me.
[15:03] You know, come to me. This invitation, though it's broad, it's stunningly exclusive. The only way to truly come to Jesus Christ is to leave everything else behind.
[15:15] On the one hand, he's confronting them with this reality. You cannot have Jesus Christ and all the world. Be a fool that would try to gain the whole world and lose his soul.
[15:27] And so he's saying, in so many ways, he's saying, nothing is important than me. In another place, he says, no one is worthy of me who loves father or mother more than me.
[15:40] What's he saying? It's an exclusive invitation. You must come to me and you must come and put me before everything else. Now, in this culture, this truth is provocative.
[15:54] Because we're told to not let anything get in the way, not of Jesus Christ, but it's sharing our own truth. Whatever that is. For our story, no one should tell us what is true or best for us.
[16:10] That's not the world in which Jesus lives. But there's stunning grace in here as well. Jesus is saying everything else in the world. He said, anyone thirsty, come to me. Why? Because everything else in the world will only aggravate your thirst even more.
[16:27] Several years ago, we went through the book of Genesis. In the center, there's a lot of things in Genesis, but in the center, there's this strange story about Jacob. Jacob, he flees from his father's house and he goes to the land of his uncle Laban to get a wife from that people.
[16:45] Laban has two daughters. One is named Leah. The other is named Rachel. Leah is weak in appearance, which is Hebrew for ugly.
[16:58] And Rachel is beautiful. Jacob falls in love with Rachel. It seems like a, you know, a Hallmark movie. He asks Laban if he could serve him for seven years in order to marry Rachel.
[17:15] Laban agrees. And because he's in love, the text says, seven years just pass like a night. You know, they pass so quickly because he's in love, perhaps a little bit of lust.
[17:25] But he likes this girl so much that it just passes incredibly quickly. At the end of seven years, Jacob says to Laban, give me my wife.
[17:38] So Laban throws a wedding feast. He's given away his daughter. But in the evening, when it was too dark to see, Laban brings Leah to Jacob's tent instead of Rachel.
[17:52] Jacob thought he was going to bed with Rachel. And in the morning, it was Leah. Now, how does that fit in our little Jesus storybook Bibles?
[18:07] You know, what in the world is in here, Lord? What is going on? Why is this story in here? Remember my kids reading, I think, the next chapter when Rachel couldn't get pregnant and Leah had all these kids and the servants had all these kids.
[18:21] And you're like, what, Dad, are we supposed to take out of this? Well, this story's got a lot to it, too. But one thing, one pastor helped me see one thing that this text warns us about. The emptiness of anything but Jesus.
[18:33] There's something this world cannot give you. No marriage can give you it. No travel. I don't know what your bucket list is like, but no travel can get it. No learning, no success, no security can ever satisfy what you're longing for.
[18:47] Nothing in the world can give you what you long for in your heart. This is how it parallels with this story. Every time you chase the things that the world offers, this is what will happen.
[18:58] You will go to bed with Rachel, and in the morning, it'll be Leah. Like, you'll go to bed thinking you're high on the hog. This is all working out.
[19:08] I got all the toys. I got the boat. Got the house. Got the car. Got the wife. Whatever it is, in the morning, it will always be Leah. It will always fail you.
[19:19] And you may have woke up with Leah this morning. Now, I'm not talking about your wife. You may have woke up with Leah all year long.
[19:34] How's this year been? One caught up in the accumulation of things, or one deepening our satisfaction in Jesus Christ?
[19:50] Sometimes it can be something so incredibly good, like relationships. We want relationships. We want friends. We want, you know, somebody to call on. And yet, it can become something that we want so much that it just leaves us in utter despair.
[20:07] There's stunning grace here. The Lord is saying, all those paths that you just think are right paths, they're dead ends. Jesus continues, if anyone comes to me, let him come to me and drink.
[20:30] Now, that's absurd. You know, like, if anyone's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. If there's one person in the world that doesn't need to be told to drink, it's the thirsty man, right?
[20:43] Several years ago, I remember my son and I were hiking a section of the AT. And if you know anything about backpacking, when you're out there on a trail and you can't carry so much water because it's heavy, you're always trying to make sure you have a good water source close by.
[20:58] And at one point, our backpacks were loaded down, like 50 pounds or something like that. We climbed a huge climb, and we were totally hosed. We were spent, worn out. Now, we came around a bend to discover my favorite, so far on the Appalachian Trail, my favorite fresh water source.
[21:17] We threw off our bags and went down to it. It was a sight to behold. It was just gushing out of the pipe. Cool, clear, crisp water gushing forth. No one needed to tell us what to do.
[21:30] Okay, this is where you get in line, and then you get to what? No, we began filtering the water. My son took the filter right up to his mouth and just chugged this fresh, cold water from the earth, drinking to his soul's delight.
[21:44] And so thirsty people do not need to be told to drink. So what in the world is Jesus doing here? Jesus is doubling down.
[21:56] Anyone is welcome who thirsts. Everything is emptiness. Leave you thirsty outside of Jesus Christ. And he is saying and underlining the greatness of his grace and generosity.
[22:11] What he's saying is, yes, you must leave everything. This is an exclusive command or invitation. You must leave everything to follow Jesus Christ, but the Lord will not be in your debt. He's saying when you come to him, you come to him to drink.
[22:24] You come to him to be satisfied. You come to be forgiven. You come to be made right with God. You come to be filled with peace and joy and purpose.
[22:34] All that Jesus has, he gives to you to drink. To drink in, to receive freely from him.
[22:48] He's underlining his generosity. See, there's another reason Jesus included this command. It's because I think we're so often satisfied with so much less. Put our mouth up to the pipe to get a trickle.
[23:03] That's absurd, according to this passage. I fear in the South that we don't so much believe in Jesus as we are inoculated with knowledge about him. Now, I know one thing about the South. We're very opposed to inoculation and vaccines.
[23:16] But when it comes to Jesus Christ, we'll just take a little bit of him. So that we can keep the real Jesus far away from us. I think we think, you know, I'll just go down the aisle.
[23:29] I'll just be baptized. I'll just take a little bit. I don't want his... Take him too seriously. I don't want to take his commands too seriously. I don't want to really live for him.
[23:41] And so the problem is, the little bit of Jesus is not going to be enough. It's not going to make you all the way through this life. And it definitely will not make you in the life to come. And so he's urging us to don't be settled for anything less.
[23:52] And so what I must ask you is, could your relationship with God, would your relationship with Jesus Christ be described as tasting, drinking, feasting, and enjoying? Could that be accurate?
[24:04] If we were to go through your life, I was going to spend a day with you. Could your relationship with God be described as feasting? Or as famineing? As delight?
[24:17] Or as a little box I check before the meal? And I'm not here to cast dispersion, but to appeal to you.
[24:31] There's so much more than that. C.S. Lewis' wonderful essay called The Weight of Glory, he said, talking about us, he says, It would seem that our Lord finds our desires, and he's talking about pleasure there, our desires for pleasure not too strong, but too weak.
[24:50] We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around and drinking, sex, and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child that wants to go on making mud pies in the slum, because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
[25:07] If you have kids, trying to convince them of something really great, and they want to kind of stay in the little thing, you know what that means, what he's saying. We're far too easily pleased. He's appealing. That's what this text is appealing.
[25:18] Come to Jesus Christ and drink. Don't be satisfied with a trickle-down Christianity. Be satisfied only with all that God has and all that he gives.
[25:31] Jesus continues, Whoever believes in me, come to me and drink. Jesus continues, Whoever believes in me. There's a sense in which Jesus changes the subject here.
[25:42] He breaks out of the metaphor to unpack how we receive from him. Now, it's quite obvious. Jesus is not literal bread that we consume. Jesus is not literal water that we drink.
[25:55] The word believe occurs 98 times in the Gospel of John. It's clear that there's nothing John wants us to understand more than the word to believe, and so all these things are metaphor for what believing is.
[26:10] There's a sense in which he changes the subject. There's another sense in which he doesn't at all. Because believing is a way of drinking, drinking in and being satisfied in Jesus Christ.
[26:21] What does it mean to believe? What he's helping us see is belief is far more than mental assent. Belief is receiving and embracing Jesus Christ. It's fascinating. 98 times believe occurs, and oftentimes this ice, this into word occurs after believe.
[26:38] Not merely believe Jesus, believe into Jesus. This idea that believe is not merely something you believe about Jesus, but belief takes you into him, to be united to him, to receive all his benefits, to receive from him, to embrace him.
[26:53] And so it couldn't be more crucial to help us see that true belief is a deep inward movement of receiving and embracing Jesus Christ. Now back when social media first launched, we used to take pictures of our food.
[27:09] Do you remember that? And if you laugh at us, all you guys just take selfies of yourself. That wasn't even invented when social media first came out. A plate full of fall off the bone, dry rub ribs, hashtag eat your heart out, you know, because I'm enjoying this right now.
[27:29] But as good as the picture look, it's not the real thing. And that's what Jesus is saying in these verses. True belief is not just recognizing that Jesus is great.
[27:41] True belief is prioritizing him, receiving him, embracing him. It's an active faith, a living faith, a tasting faith, a drinking faith, a feasting faith.
[27:53] It's a wonderfully rich, active, moving faith in Jesus Christ. Not defined by one act, walking down the aisle or something, but defined by day after day of acts of delight in Jesus Christ.
[28:11] So whoever is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, it continues, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
[28:24] Now the Lord wrote the scriptures, but it's hard to know what scripture our Lord is referencing right here. Could it be Proverbs 4.23?
[28:39] For keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. That's close, but it doesn't seem right. It seems to me that Jesus is not referring to one scripture here when he says, out of your heart will flow rivers of living water.
[28:57] He's referring to numerous scriptures where salvation is compared to water. Why? Because thirst is nothing.
[29:09] It's one of the greatest threats to our survival, and so it's compared to water. Because salvation is like finding that water source that we found on the AT.
[29:22] And so there's so many passages that come together, which we have for you. Isaiah 12.3, Isaiah 35, This is the great Isaiah deliverance, the second exodus.
[29:39] Water shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, the burning sand shall become a pool, the thirsty ground springs of water. Isaiah 41.18, I will pour rivers on the bare heights and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
[29:53] I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water. Isaiah 44.3, I will pour water on your thirsty land. Look at that personifying land.
[30:04] The land's thirsty. It's crying out for water. Streams on the dry ground. I'll pour my spirit upon your offspring, my blessing on your descendants. Isaiah 55, The great invitation.
[30:15] Up everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters. He who has no money, come by and eat. Isaiah 58. The Lord will satisfy your desire and scorch places and make your bones strong.
[30:27] You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. That's so close to what Jesus is saying here. Zachariah 14.8, On that day, living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem.
[30:40] It shall continue in summer as in winter. Jesus is underlining all that he has said already. His invitation is to come and drink, to receive.
[30:51] It's a promise of all that he's done. Wells, streams, pools, springs, rivers, water. What's the point? Jesus does not want you to be satisfied with anything but the best that he has.
[31:05] Jesus does not want you to leave without thinking of all that he has. How could we read these verses and not believe that the Lord wants us to be satisfied in him in such a way that we're filled to overflowing?
[31:26] That we're convicted to believe that our present enjoyment of him is never enough. We're never content with yesterday's grace and the obedience of years ago.
[31:40] I don't want to get to heaven talking about my conversion. I'm talking about all the joy he's supplied that I've received from him. Jesus will satisfy in such a way that from the heart will flow rivers of living water.
[31:58] It almost sounds like the water source changes from Jesus to us. That's not really what's going on. It's not suddenly Jesus-centered and then you-centered.
[32:08] That's not what's going on. He's saying Jesus will satisfy you in such a way that you're never thirsty again. Like you'll go right around in a great boat and I got nothing against great boats.
[32:20] But you just won't satisfy. I remember when I became a Christian, I was in a Radiohead fan club. Yeah. The big time radio fan. And clearly no one knows who Radiohead is and that's a tragedy.
[32:33] So we can talk about that later after service. But I was in a Radiohead fan club and I wanted to see Radiohead for years and years and years. They came out with Creep. There's a lot of other good songs too. Maybe not approved.
[32:45] So whatever. Ah. And I became a Christian on August 9, 2001. Early that summer, I had won the lottery with a few friends to go see Radiohead.
[32:55] Five days later, after becoming a Christian, I saw Radiohead in Grant Park in Chicago with the fountains, the love and marriage fountains, Ted Bundy.
[33:06] Not Ted Bundy. What's the guy's name? Different Ted. Al Bundy. Yeah, different Bundy. Saw the fountains. You know, I'm standing there. Sorry, I'm losing you guys now.
[33:21] Al. Al Bundy. But the fountains behind it. Radiohead singing. It was a great show. But it wasn't Jesus Christ.
[33:34] I just remember, like, sitting there thinking, how in the world could this not be satisfying right now?
[33:45] They were my two best friends from high school listening to all these songs and it just wasn't doing it. I mean, it was great. I smiled, sang along. But man, I couldn't wait to get back to reading the New Testament like I was doing right then.
[34:01] That's what's going on. That's what Jesus is talking about. He's not talking about the water source that comes from you. He's talking about living in such a way that your satisfaction is derived from Jesus Christ. There is no limit to His greatness and His grace.
[34:15] And so He says, come and be satisfied and you'll never thirst again. The world is serving up water all day long. It looks so good, crisp, clear.
[34:28] You can almost take the bait. But it's salt water. The true water, the water that's satisfied, the living water, is only found in Jesus Christ.
[34:38] There's a couple things I want you to see though before we leave. The next time this word thirst appears in John's Gospel. It's already appeared in John 4 and it ends here.
[34:51] John 4 with the woman at the well appears here in John 7. The next time is on the cross. Look at this. After this, it's after all the suffering.
[35:05] Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, that's incredible, knowing that the wrath of God was fully satisfied, said, to fulfill Scripture, I thirst.
[35:17] A jar full of sour wine stood there and so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. Now at this point, Jesus had not drank anything for six hours.
[35:33] By the size of your now gene, I know you're afraid of that. But He was also on a cross. And one of the ways of death by crucifixion is dehydration.
[35:50] So Jesus is made like us in every respect. That's what John's telling us. Jesus was tempted in every way we are. Jesus, the Son of God, made man.
[36:01] The one who needs nothing outside of Himself is made to ache with thirst. But there's more going on here. Jesus does not cry out for something to drink until it's all finished.
[36:16] What does that mean? Knowing that it was all finished. What was finished? He was finished drinking down the cup of the wrath of God.
[36:28] The work the Father gave Him. My food and my drink is to do the will of Him who sent me. And so the will of Him who sent me was to drink down the whole cup of wrath for sinners, paying the penalty, enduring the wrath for sin once for all.
[36:43] So only after all that is drank, He says, I thirst. But, also, because He hung seven to eight feet off the ground, one of those around Him couldn't just reach up and give Him something to drink like we might do a little kid.
[37:01] So they put it on a branch, on a sponge, lifted the branch up to our Lord's dry mouth.
[37:20] But did you notice what type of branch it was? A hyssop branch. You remember, the people of Israel put the blood on the door frames on the evening of the Exodus with a hyssop branch.
[37:34] They put the blood on all the sides of the door frame to say, this blood means the angel of death must pass over this house because we're covered in the blood.
[37:47] So what is going on here? John is alerting us. Jesus said, I am the true bread that came from heaven. I am the manna that has provided for you all your life. I am the true water.
[37:58] I'm the water from the rock because I am the rock. That's what he's saying. And here John is alerting us. I am. He is the true Passover lamb. What Jesus is doing on the cross is putting himself in the place.
[38:13] What the Passover pointed towards was Jesus Christ standing in the place of sinners so that the wrath of God might pass over us and land on him such that there's no more judgment to fear and no more wrath to fear.
[38:32] And Jesus asks for a drink when it's finished. Three days later he rose from the dead with the stamp of approval because everything is new.
[38:47] Jesus conquered the power of death, conquered the sin of death, brought forgiveness and eternal life to all who trust in him now. The old is gone. Behold, the new has come.
[38:57] And so we drink. Jesus offers this invitation not as an anticipation for what he will do but as a celebration for what he has done.
[39:09] Come and drink. Everyone thirsts. All that's in the offering is salt water.
[39:21] But Jesus satisfies completely. Strikingly, the next time the Apostle John takes up this word thirst is in Revelation 7 where it speaks about the day we're with our Lord.
[39:38] He says, they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore. The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd and he will guide them to springs of living water.
[39:55] So, are you thirsty? It's a little hot in here so we probably all are. Have you taken up the water to drink?
[40:06] I'm not asking if you've been baptized. Have you left everything to follow Jesus Christ? Do you have a living faith? Do you have a tasting faith?
[40:18] A drinking faith? A feasting faith? An enjoying faith? Or are you settling for trickle down Christianity?
[40:29] I want to appeal to you to drink. I want to appeal to you to come to Jesus Christ. To receive from him. You may say, absolutely, I believe in Jesus.
[40:40] You know? So I shared last night, Jesus is risen, prove me wrong. And I said, I'm not going to prove you wrong because I believe. You may be here and say, I don't believe any of that.
[40:52] All you guys talking about a story of a man 2,000 years ago. I would encourage you to continue listening. You may say, I'm considering that.
[41:04] I'm not saying you're right, but I'm also not convinced you're wrong. If that's you, I'd recommend you keep pursuing. We would love to talk with you, you know? You may be disturbed a bit by a message like this, that maybe I thought my trust was in Jesus Christ, I thought it was real and legit, but it's not so much.
[41:23] It's a charade. You may say, today I want to follow Jesus Christ, and that's the best news of all. Today's the day of salvation. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father on high and says, come to him, drink, believe in him, and you'll be satisfied in such a way that you'll never be thirsty again.
[41:45] If you thirst, come to Jesus. Father in heaven, we thank you. We thank you for all that this day means, and we humble ourselves before you.
[42:00] We thank you for the provision of your death and resurrection. resurrection. And now we pray that your spirit would continue to do the work of drawing us truly and completely to Jesus.
[42:17] We praise you, we thank you, we hide in you this day, and we rejoice in your death and resurrection and the good news of the gospel which is ours in Christ.
[42:33] We thank you, we praise you, in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a message given by Walt Alexander, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Athens, Tennessee.
[42:44] For more information about Trinity Grace, please visit us at trinitygraceathens.com.