Let's turn again to the chapter we read, John's Gospel, chapter 7, and we're not going to read it from verse 37 to the end.
It's quite a large section.
Just to read the start of it,
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out,
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
And so on.
I want us to consider this whole section.
Now, the verse begins by saying,
On the last day of the feast.
And there's always a last day.
There's a last day to everything.
And sometimes there's a last day to good things.
There's a last day to bad things.
And I know that sometimes when we're, say, for instance, you're on a holiday and you're really enjoying the holiday and it's come to the last day,
you're saying, oh, man, I wish we could get a few more days.
And then there are other times we're so thankful when the last day comes.
I know the young folk are going through their exams just now and I think back and I still remember the feeling of when it was the last day of the exams.
The sense of relief.
Glad that's passed.
So that's how life is at our times.
We're glad of the last day.
Sometimes we're sad about the last day.
Well, here we have the last day of the feast.
And it's one of the great statements of the Lord Jesus.
And again, when you think of the last day, it's one of the things that we will find very hard to understand about glory is that there won't be last days.
It is perpetual glory.
Because our world is so governed by our 24-hour period of our days and our nights.
But we're told that there shall be no night there.
It's going to be a totally different type of order.
And there won't be a last day of anything bad.
It will be everything will always be good.
And it's very hard for us just to lay hold upon how transformational that is going to be.
The very thought of what glory is.
But here is this feast, the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Tabernacles.
It was known by both names.
And it was held from the 15th to the 21st or the 22nd.
From the 15th to the 21st of the 7th month.
And that would be our October.
It was the time when the harvest was over.
And it was a great time of celebration for the Jews.
Because in this Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, what they did was,
there was a great, they would be congregating in Jerusalem.
There would be a lot of strangers, a lot of visitors, a lot of pilgrims.
And they would build little leafy shelters or little leafy booths.
And they would have them on the streets, in the marketplace, on the flat roof, tops of houses, all over.
And it was a time for reminding them of their journey through the wilderness
and of God helping them and taking them through.
And so it was also a time where they were thanking God for the harvest.
The toil, the labor was over.
And it was a time of celebration.
It was a great time.
So this is what we find here at this particular time.
And it's interesting that one of the pictures that were given in Revelation
of the saints in glory with palm branches in their hands.
And it might even be a little glimpse, a little reminder
of the very time of celebrating all that God has done,
of all the toil, of all the labor, of all these things now in the past.
But anyway, the Lord of the harvest will gather every single individual
that has trusted in him from the four corners of this earth.
Not one will be missing.
They will all be gathered in from north, south, east, and west
into the eternal joy of the Lord.
So we find Jesus who's come to the feast.
And here he is in the temple on the very last day.
And he cries out in order for everybody to hear.
But this moment is actually quite an extraordinary moment
because it is a moment of fulfillment of prophecy.
Because if we had gone back to the prophecy of Haggai,
we find that the Lord came to the prophet Haggai.
And the issue that the Lord was bringing before the people at that time
was what they weren't doing.
Because Haggai is prophesying to the exiles
that have returned from Babylon, from the captivity.
And when they were released from Babylon,
of course many of them were new, they were born in captivity,
but there were some who had, it was a 70-year period, the exile.
There were some of them who had been taken when they were young into exile
and now they were back again.
And initially there was incredible excitement
and thrill to be back in their own land.
And they began to build, rebuild the temple
and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
But they had begun to slacken off.
They began to become more concerned about their own projects,
their own buildings.
And so Haggai was sent to sort of stir them up again
to get going with the rebuilding of the temple.
And the problem with some of the older people was this,
that they could remember the old temple,
which was the most magnificent structure.
It was absolutely amazing building.
And of course it had been destroyed, completely flattened.
And as they were looking at this new temple being built,
they were saying to themselves,
oh, this is nothing.
The glory of this is absolutely nothing compared
to the glory of the former temple.
And so they were very downhearted about it all.
But Haggai comes with a message to them.
And this is what he says.
God is saying this,
the latter glory of this temple
shall be greater than the former,
says the Lord of hosts.
And in this place I will give peace.
Now, what's remarkable about this prophecy is
that it tells us in the book of Haggai
that the very date that the Lord spoke to Haggai
to go and to stand at the temple
and to address the people
was on the 21st day of the seventh month.
Roll forward 500 plus years,
and here is Jesus
who is the Prince of Peace,
who is the God-Man
who has come to bring peace on earth.
Here he is
on that very same day
all these centuries later.
And he is fulfilling that prophecy
because the Lord says,
in this place I will give peace.
And here stands Jesus
500 plus years later
to the very day.
And he is,
he is the man of peace.
He is the Prince of Peace.
It's a pinpoint prophetic accuracy.
And so we find that Jesus
on this last day,
and this was a great day,
this was the final day,
and at this particular time
there would be the pouring of the water
from the pools of Siloam.
It was a hive of activity.
It was really busy.
And Jesus,
as often Jesus did,
used and illustrated
from what was taking place around him.
And there's the water
being poured out
from the pools of Siloam.
He uses the illustration of water.
And he gives this cry.
It wasn't just,
he didn't just speak.
Often Jesus spoke.
But on this occasion,
it tells us,
Jesus stood up and cried out.
There was urgency in the cry.
There would be emotion in the cry.
There would be pity in the cry.
There would be pleading in the cry.
It would have been a powerful moment.
And he's saying,
if anyone thirst,
let him come to me and drink.
I've got to ask the question
before we move on.
Have you come?
Have you come,
or are you still stalling?
Are you still bargaining with God?
Are you still holding back?
Are there things still in the way?
Or have you come?
Because you see,
while the cry is being made still today,
the authority of God grants us
that we are able to bring out
this beautiful, wonderful gospel
to people.
There's going to come a day,
there'll be a last day,
for this invitation to be given as well.
Thankfully, it's not today.
But it might be tomorrow.
We don't know.
So it is imperative
that we listen to the cry of Jesus,
where he's saying,
if anyone thirst,
let him come to me and to drink.
And you'll notice how wide
that invitation is.
Because it says,
if anyone,
anyone.
There are no exclusion zones here.
It doesn't matter a person's racial identity.
It doesn't matter a person's social standing.
It doesn't matter a person's culture.
It doesn't matter a person's religion or creed.
It doesn't matter.
There's nothing indicated.
It's for everybody.
This invitation goes out to all,
to everybody who hears it.
Everybody who hears,
this is a cry that is issuing out from the Savior.
If anyone thirsts,
let him come to me and drink.
It's an invitation to the anxious.
If you're today and you're anxious in life,
and you find that life is becoming challenging and difficult,
and you're not coping,
Jesus is saying,
look,
come to me.
I will give you a peace.
I will give you a,
I will bring a composure and a calmness into your life
because of who I am.
When Jesus gives us his peace,
it's not like
that he has compartments with different things,
that there's peace and there's joy
and there's things.
When Jesus gives peace,
it's giving of himself through the Spirit
because he is all these things.
So it is a communication by the Spirit
of who Jesus is to ourselves.
And he brings a purpose and a meaning into life.
You might be finding life absolutely empty just now.
And there have been times when life has been fulfilling,
times you've been excited in life,
times you've felt satisfied,
but it's not there.
Because you see,
it's like everybody's given a bucket at the beginning of life,
and there you go,
fill that bucket with whatever.
Well,
if we do not have Christ,
it's like trying to fill a bucket with a hole in it.
And you know that's an impossibility.
You try and fill a bucket full of water and there's a hole.
It doesn't matter how often it reaches up to the brim,
it continues to seep out.
And that's how it is in life.
Because there are times,
there are periods you may feel satisfied,
your things are going well.
But if all that we look for is in this life,
it'll never ultimately satisfy.
It can satisfy for a while,
but then there's always something else.
It's easier to catch the wind and keep it
than find our full satisfaction and fulfillment
just in life itself.
And that's why Jesus is saying,
look,
you need me.
And it's obvious because there's,
as the old people used to say,
there's a God-shaped void in the heart of every person.
Because God made us.
That's the way he made us.
There's a God-shaped void.
And it can,
we can never get that ultimate fulfillment and satisfaction
until the Lord takes over in our life.
He's the missing piece.
And once he's there,
it all changes.
And may I say,
if there's anybody here today
who might be in the bracket of the careless and indifferent,
and you might be saying to yourself,
oh,
well,
I wouldn't be in church if I'm careless and indifferent.
Well,
thank the Lord you are.
And don't stop coming.
Because this is where so many people come to faith.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
But you see,
you can,
you can come to church out of habit,
out of duty.
That's good.
Please don't change that habit or duty.
But that's as far as it goes.
And the preaching and all that,
it just flies over your head.
In one ear,
out the other.
It's out there.
It's got no relevance.
It's for other people.
It's not for you.
No,
it's for you.
It's for you today.
This is the word of the Lord.
And he's speaking to each and every one of us this day.
And he's saying to you,
you're going in the wrong direction.
The road you're leading on will bring you to death,
eternal death.
So you see,
Christ is our only answer in life.
So Jesus gives this great cry,
if anyone thirst,
let him come to me and drink.
And of course,
specifically,
he's saying,
if anyone thirsts.
And that,
above all,
is thirsting for gospel blessing.
Thirsting for Christ.
And maybe there's somebody here today,
and you are saying that,
you know this,
I would love to be a Christian.
And I've wanted to be a Christian for a long time.
Well,
come.
Come to Christ.
If you're,
naturally speaking,
if you're really thirsty,
what do you do?
You don't start telling people,
oh,
you know,
I'm really,
really thirsty.
You don't speak to yourself saying,
oh,
I would give anything for a drink.
I'm so thirsty.
No,
you get up and you go
to where you can get something for that thirst.
And so it is today,
today,
if you are thirsty,
if you're wanting Christ,
go to him.
Don't just sit there saying,
well,
you know,
that's the way I am.
Do something about it.
Go to him and say,
Lord,
come into my heart,
come into my life.
And you know this,
the Lord will not refuse.
If you're serious about it,
he will not refuse.
Sometimes the journey takes a wee while,
but guaranteed,
if you're sincerely asking the Lord,
he will come in.
And he will give that,
he will give that,
as it says,
whoever believes him,
as the scripture said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Just as Jesus was saying to the woman at the well of Samaria,
I know that the water that he would give would be spring up,
this water show of everlasting life,
that the satisfaction that you will get in Christ Jesus surpasses nothing else.
Guaranteed.
It grants you a peace,
a purpose,
a meaning,
a hope.
Do you know,
there's so much despair in this life.
So many people today,
they feel utterly hopeless.
Look around and they say,
what's the point?
When the Lord comes into your life,
it changes your perspective.
It changes.
And even if you're looking at things,
and they are often grim,
there's still a hope burning in your heart for better days.
You know how it's going to end.
And that's important.
How things end,
that's really important.
And if you're a Christian,
you know it's going to end well.
So I would urge you today
that you would go to the Lord
who will give to you like nobody else can.
Now,
Jesus goes on to say,
for as yet,
he's talking in verse 39,
now he said this about the Spirit,
whom those who believed in him were to receive.
For as yet,
the Spirit had not been given
because Jesus was not glorified.
Now,
that doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit
wasn't ministering
at this particular time.
Right throughout the whole of the Old Testament,
from the very beginning,
the Holy Spirit was at work.
And the Holy Spirit enabled
every Old Testament believer
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they saw the Christ who was to come
in the same way as
they looked forward
and believed in the Christ to come.
We look back
and we believe in the Christ who has come.
But the Holy Spirit was working.
But what Jesus is talking about here is
that the Holy Spirit
was going to come
in a new power
after he had gone to the cross,
died,
risen,
and ascended into heaven.
And we see the display of that
in the book of Acts
in Pentecost.
And we live in these times
where we live
in these particular times.
And so,
from verse 40 then
to verse 44,
we find
there's a real division
among the people.
some are persuaded
that he is Christ.
But others are saying,
no,
he can't be the Christ
because
he's a Galilee man.
He's from Galilee.
And the Bible
makes it very clear
that
the Messiah,
the Christ,
is to
be of the
seed of David.
And David was a Bethlehem boy.
David came from Bethlehem.
And so the Scripture
is quite clear
that the Messiah,
that the Christ,
is to come
from Bethlehem.
He's to be born
in Bethlehem.
And see the trouble
that little knowledge
causes.
Everybody,
or not everybody,
but most of the people
were absolutely
persuaded
that Jesus
was a Nazareth
person.
Born and bred.
Well,
we know he wasn't.
He was brought up
in Nazareth.
But he wasn't born there.
If they had taken
the trouble
to really find out
where was Jesus born,
it would have changed
everything.
The chief priests,
the Pharisees,
the scribes,
all these people
who were opposed
to Christ
and saw him
as the ultimate
blasphemer,
if only they had
taken the trouble
to go and find
out the facts.
Find out
where Jesus
was born.
that would have
changed their
whole perspective.
But they didn't.
Because they assumed
that they had seen
him grow up
from the time
as a little baby
in Nazareth
that he was born there.
And you know,
so often in life
problems arise
because we don't
know the facts.
We assume we do.
We don't know
the bottom line.
We put two
and two together
and often arrive
at three.
And there are
problems in the home,
problems in families,
problems at work,
problems in the community,
problems in the church
because people
haven't got
all the facts.
And you see
the huge problem
that was caused here
just because of this.
So there was
this division
among the people.
But there was
one group above all
that were utterly
and altogether
convinced that Christ
was the ultimate
blasphemer
and that was
the chief priests,
the Pharisees.
They were on
one mission
he has to be destroyed.
He is the ultimate
blasphemer.
And so they send
people out
to arrest him.
Verse 45
tells us
they came back
without Christ.
Why did you not
bring him in?
Verse 46.
No one
ever spoke
like this man.
What a truth
they spoke.
Instead of them
arresting Christ,
Christ's words
arrested them.
they fell
under the spell
maybe I shouldn't
put it that way
of the word
of Christ
because they saw
they saw
this isn't
an ordinary man.
Remember in
Matthew's gospel
it tells us
something similar.
They were astonished
at his doctrine
because he taught
us one having
authority
not as a scribe.
And of course
the words
of Jesus Christ
are different
to any other
words.
Because when we
think
who is
Jesus Christ?
Who is
the Son of God?
Well we're told
very simply
he is the creator
of this world.
The God
man
before
he took
human nature
he was at the
very center
of the creation.
His word
brought everything
into being.
the great galaxies
the sun
the moon
the planets
great mountain
ranges
the sea
animals
humans
because we're
told in the
scripture
that
for by
him
were all
things
created.
No wonder
they said
nobody ever
spoke like him.
His words
had power
they had meaning
they had reality
and these are
the same words
that we are
dealing with today
the words
of Jesus
Christ.
He has power
over the world
of the demonic.
Satan has to
submit
to the authority
and the power
of Christ.
He has power
over death
over spiritual
death
and that's the way
we are by nature
we're all born
that's
that's the way
we're naturally
formed
but we're
spiritually dead.
That's why
we can sit
in church
for years.
Hearing
preaching
that is
condemning
our soul
to hell
and it means
absolutely
nothing
or we can
hear the sweet
invitations
of Jesus
promising us
endless glory
and it still
means nothing.
It just
drifts by
because we're
spiritually
dead
and only
the Lord
can bring
spiritual
life
and every
one of you
today
who has
come to
faith
it is
because
of the
word
of Christ.
He has
spoken
into your
heart.
You received
him.
You believed.
You cried
to him.
You called
to him.
You believed.
And so
he is the one
who brings
life.
Brings
life spiritually
and we know
that he has
power over
death even
physically as
we saw
in the
raising of
Lazarus from
the dead
and Jairus'
daughter.
But nobody
ever spoke
like Jesus.
And how
wonderful that
is.
When you
and I
when we
sin
when we're
aware of
how far
short we've
gone
sin can
often trouble
us.
But you
know rather
than drive
us away
it should
drive us
to Christ.
They
meant it
by way
of condemnation
but what a
truth they
spoke.
This man
receives
sinners
and eats
with them.
I love
that.
That's a
Jesus who
today is
calling you.
He receives
sinners.
Wouldn't it
be awful
if it said
he receives
those who
have reformed.
Those who
have turned
their back
upon.
Those who
have tried
their best
to sort
themselves out
and doesn't
say anything
of that.
Receive
sinners
just as
you are.
Warts and
all.
All the
baggage of
the past.
He says
come on
I'll receive
you.
There's nothing
to stop you.
So it's
important to
realize this.
And he is
the one
who forgives.
I even
I am he
that blotteth
without thy
transgressions
and will
not remember
thine iniquities.
Isn't that
beautiful?
Jesus is the
one who
says to us
today when
we're troubled
and burdened
in life
he says
come to me
all you
who are
laboring
and burdened
and I'll
give you
rest.
To all of
your sorrowing
maybe today
your hearts
are sore
I will not
leave you
comfortless
I will
come to
you.
No man
ever spoke
like this
man.
In
conclusion
we see
one thing
here amongst
all the
voices
condemning
Jesus
there was
one lone
voice
a voice
of reason
and that
voice
of reason
was the
voice of
Nicodemus.
Nicodemus
verse 50
who had
gone to
him before
and who
was one
of them
that is
one of
the Pharisees
said to
them
does
our
Lord
judge
a man
without
first
giving
him a
hearing
and
learning
what
he
does.
Nicodemus
is trying
to say
look
we've
got to
hear
what
Jesus
Nicodemus
is here
in the
defense
of
Jesus.
Now
Nicodemus
was on
a journey
and we've
got to
remember
that for
different
people
some
people
will walk
into
church
and they're
converted
like that
other
people
the journey
takes a
while
took a
while
for
Nicodemus
and Nicodemus
remember
the night
when he
had to
go to
see
of course
it was
under
the cover
of
darkness
because
if the
Pharisees
discovered
that he
was
identifying
with
Jesus
he'd
have
been
thrown
out
and a lot
of the
Pharisees
were
sort of
drawn to
Jesus
but they
loved the
praise of
men more
than the
praise of
God
so they
didn't want
to lose
their
privileges
they didn't
want to lose
their honor
but
Nicodemus
he went
to Jesus
under the
cover of
darkness
remember
Jesus said
you must
be born
again
you're a
student of
the law
Nicodemus
do you not
understand
these things
and Nicodemus
didn't
but the
work had
begun
and here's
now a
wee while
forward
and Nicodemus
is now
trying to
speak
on behalf
of Jesus
a wee while
later
we will
find that
Nicodemus
comes fully
out on
the side
of Jesus
more so
than Peter
more so
than James
Nicodemus
remember
joined
Joseph of
Arimathea
in the
burial
of Jesus
he was
ready to
lose all
that he
had
all the
privileges
all the
honor in
this world
because he
had completely
sided with
Jesus
I hope
you're on
a journey
might be
taking a
while
but I
pray you're
on that
journey
because if
you are on
that journey
it will end
well
you make
sure
that you're
seeking
Jesus
and that
you listen
to his
call today
where he's
saying
come
to me
let us
pray
Lord our
God we
pray to
bless us
we give
thanks for
your word
a challenge
to us
an invitation
to us
and we
pray that
we will
have the
grace to
obey what
you're
requiring
of us
grant us
because
help us
to realize
that we
cannot
our
shells
but that
we can
come to
you
and truly
seek
and you
will indeed
do the
work
you will
do what's
necessary
for us
bless us
we pray
part us
with your
blessing
take us
to our
home safely
forgiving sin
in Jesus
name
amen
we're going
to conclude
singing in
psalm 63
the 63rd
psalm
and we're
going to
sing
it's a
scottish
psalter
and we're
going to
sing
verses 1
to 5
psalm 63
scottish
psalter
verses 1
to 5
lord
thee my
god
i
rarely
seek
my
soul
doth
thirst
for thee
my
flesh
longs
in a
dry
parched
land
wherein
no
waters
be
that
i
thy
power
may
behold
and
brightness
of thy
face
as i
have
seen
thee
heretofore
within
thy
holy
place
since
better
is
thy
love
than
life
my
lips
thee
praise
shall
give
i
in
thy
name
will
lift
my
hands
and
bless
thee
while
i
live
1
to 5
psalm
63
lord
thee
my
god
i
rarely
seek
for
thee
my
god
i
rarely
seek
my
soul
doth
thirst
for
thee
my
flesh
longs
in
a
dry
!
thy
far
land
where
in
no
waters
be
that
i
thy
power
may
behold
and
brightness
of
thy
face
as
i
have
seen
thee
here
to
forth
within
thy
holy
place
since
better
is
thy
love
than
life
my
lips
thee
praise
shall
give
!
I
in
thy
name
will
lift
my
hands
and
bless
thee
while
I
live
even
as
with
marrow
and
with
fat
my
soul
shall
fill
it
thee
then
shall
my
mouth
with
joyful
lips
sing
praises
unto
thee
now
may
the
grace
mercy
and
peace
of
God
the
Father
Son
and
Holy
Spirit
rest
and
abide
upon
each
one
of
you
now
and
forever
more
amen
I'll go to the door on my right
that
!
that
Thank you.