Please turn, if you will, to John 7, verses 25 to 52.
So if you've got a church Bible, if you've got a black church Bible,
that is on page 893, and they're just on the rack as you come in.
And there is something, isn't there, about raising Jesus in conversation.
I don't know whether you've experienced that in your office,
or at the school gate, or in school, in the classroom.
People don't seem to mind that I go to church.
They quite like that I'm religious.
They're interested that I'm a minister, but you bring Jesus into it,
and people start to bristle a little bit, I find.
I never cease to be amazed at just how confused people are about the Lord Jesus.
How they've misunderstood him, or misunderstood what he came to bring.
But there are many people out there that are hostile.
There is a tension in our society.
When you bring up Jesus, some people think of Jesus as a good person, a likable person.
Some people might say, I'm all for Jesus, but I don't like the church.
I like Jesus, but I don't like Christians.
And I think that's so encouraging, is that when we come to the Gospels,
that opposition to Jesus is the dominant response.
Many reject him.
Some reject Jesus out of complete ignorance.
Some oppose him because they refuse to submit to his claims on their life.
Some dislike Jesus intensely because he exposes religious hypocrisy.
Some look at Jesus and think, you come from the wrong town, you've got the wrong accent.
You've got the wrong background.
Some think of Jesus, you're not educated like we are.
How could this possibly be someone who is worth listening to?
And yet, we see in the Gospels, don't we, some, who I hope like you tonight,
some see Jesus and they rejoice.
Who see Jesus and say, at last.
There are some who see Jesus and they see in him bread for the hungry.
Fresh water for the thirsty, sight for the blind, joy for the downhearted,
deliverance for the broken, hope for the hopeless.
And the key to receiving Jesus is knowing your need for Jesus.
And that's why the religious leaders of Jesus' day,
the ones that Reuben read to us about,
they think they don't need the Lord Jesus because they've got religion.
They've got their laws.
They've got their system for improvement, self-improvement sorted out.
Or there's the crowd and they're drawn to Jesus because they see in him,
here is someone who can meet my physical needs.
Food, health, here is someone who is entertaining, he puts on a good show.
But the one who receives Jesus and gets real life, the life that lasts,
is the one who sees Jesus and knows that they are spiritually poor.
The one who receives Jesus is the one who knows that they are lost.
The one who receives Jesus knows that they're running on empty.
And they know that they have a thirst which cannot be quenched by anything in this world.
Such a person who knows their spiritual thirst looks at Jesus and says,
yes, at last.
And there will be some here this evening who don't know this real need for Jesus.
And maybe Jesus does not appear to you as wonderful as he really is.
And there may be some who are here tonight, it's possible, isn't it, to grow up in a church like this
and think that Jesus is for the weak but I'm strong.
Jesus is for the hopeless and actually I'm self-sufficient.
And some of us who have been Christians for many years, and that's most of us, isn't it,
I think we too, I certainly can, lose that real sense of dependence on Jesus.
The sense that I, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, year by year,
need to be fed by Jesus.
And need to depend on him for everything.
And it's so easy to forget, it's so easy to become self-reliant.
And so my prayer tonight as we walk through this passage is that God might do two things for us tonight.
That he might give to you and to me a deep sense of our need of Jesus wherever we're at.
And that he might fill us also with joy at the gift of Jesus.
John 7, Jesus is back in Jerusalem, he's been absent for about a year.
But Jerusalem is still buzzing from what Jesus did a year ago in chapter 6.
He healed a well-known paralysed man.
And he did it on the Sabbath and it raised all sorts of questions.
And then Jesus left and now a year later he's back in Jerusalem.
And he's arrived halfway through the Feast of Tabernacles.
And Jesus appears and he amazes the crowd.
They say, where did you get this teaching from, Jesus?
And he says, I'm simply a servant of the one who sent me.
And that leads us to our first point.
There are three C's tonight and the sermon is like a sandwich.
There is confusion on either side of calling.
And so the first confusion is about the coming and going of Jesus.
The confusion about the coming and going of Jesus.
You see this particularly in verses 25 and 26.
Look down there.
There is confusion.
And here is this man, the religious authorities, we know they want to arrest him.
And they're planning to kill him.
But they're not doing anything about it.
And so maybe, just maybe, they've concluded that he really is the Messiah.
He is from God.
But then they're confused, verse 27.
Because they think, well, when the Christ comes, no one will know where he's from.
They've got this idea in their head that when the Christ, God's anointed king appears,
when the saviour appears, he's going to come out of nowhere.
And yet, they think, well, we know where this man comes from.
We know that he comes from Nazareth, this little village in Galilee.
And Jesus answers their confusion in verse 28.
Can you see it?
He cries out, he says, verse 28.
He proclaims, he speaks loudly, you know me.
And you know where I come from.
But I've not come of my own accord.
He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
I know him.
For I come from him, and he sent me.
Just think about that for a moment.
Jesus is saying, yes, you know where I'm from, sort of.
You know where I'm from in an earthly sense.
You know the town that I grew up in, but you don't really know where I'm from.
Because you do not know the one who sent me, the Father.
You know my earthly origin, but not my heavenly origin.
And that can be so easily true today, can't it?
People try to make sense of Jesus just as a human phenomenon.
They say, well I'm sure he was an extraordinary man who had an extraordinary influence.
But they discount that Jesus actually came from heaven.
And without understanding that, it is impossible to make sense of him.
You will never know Jesus if you view him only from an earthly point of view.
You will never come to Jesus because you'll only ever see him meeting needs that are earthly.
But Jesus came from heaven.
And the needs that he meets are heavenly.
And the crowd, they only saw Jesus' earthly origin.
They saw only his earthly usefulness.
He was a great healer.
They knew that he provided food.
He put on a good show, so they missed Jesus.
And the confusion continues.
Some in the crowd, verse 30.
Can you see that?
So they are seeking to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Verse 31.
Yet many of the people believed in him.
Perhaps they believed in him.
Verse 31.
They said, when the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?
That's not actually a good sign in John.
In John, people's faith that's based on miracles is viewed with huge suspicion.
They're only interested in the show, are they?
Or are they interested in what the signs are pointing to?
The Jewish religious leaders, they hear about Jesus' rising popularity in verse 32.
And they send guards to arrest him.
There is confusion about the coming of Jesus.
But there's confusion about the going of Jesus.
Look at verse 33.
Jesus answered, I'll be with you a little longer.
And then I am going to him who sent me.
And you will seek me.
And you will not find me.
And where I am, you cannot come.
At this point, the crowd's listening.
They've not got a clue what he's going on about.
Look at their response in verse 35.
Where is he going to go that we would not be able to find him?
Is he going to go out amongst the Greeks?
Is he going to go out amongst the seas?
Where's he going to go?
Jesus is saying, isn't he?
I am returning to my Father.
I am returning to the one who sent me.
And I am returning to him via death and resurrection and glorification.
I'm with you on this earth only for a short time.
So now, now is the moment to believe.
Now is the moment to respond.
Because the day is coming when you will look for me and I will not be there.
And that can be as true for us as it can be for them.
It may be that tonight, this very night,
is the opportunity where Jesus says,
now is the time to come.
And you leave this room having said no to the Lord Jesus
and you immerse yourself in one distraction,
one false trail after another.
And the opportunity is lost.
And the moment goes.
And you come face to face with the Lord Jesus on the last day.
This, tonight, is the night Jesus will remember.
The night when Jesus stood up on the feast on the last day
and he called out,
if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
That is the day they heard those words.
And this is the night you hear those words.
That Jesus has come to the Father
and he is going to the Father
and his coming and his going
caused great confusion.
But the second point is,
Jesus calls tonight.
Jesus calls us
to come and drink.
Listen again to the words of Jesus.
Verse 37.
They are remarkable words, aren't they?
On the last day of the feast,
the great day,
Jesus stood up
and he cried out,
if anyone thirsts,
let him come to me and drink.
The feast that Jesus is talking about there,
that he was on,
right at the end,
is the end of the harvest, really,
commemorating God's goodness to them.
God's goodness to them
in bringing them out of the land of Egypt
all those centuries ago
and giving them harvest.
God's kindness to them in the wilderness.
And the festival was like a giant camping trip.
It was like the IPC getaway up in Kazakh.
People would come from all over the land
and they would set up their tents
and rent B&Bs
and they would remember the years
wandering in the wilderness
where God provided for them.
It would be a joyful feast,
just like the IPC getaway will be in Kazakh.
Booking spaces are still available.
And they would give thanks
for the blessing of God's provision.
And it would be a joyful celebration,
celebrating all of God's goodness,
all of the good things that we need.
And on the great day,
Jesus stands up and he says,
all those who are thirsty,
come to me and drink.
The Jewish people still celebrate the feast today.
They celebrate.
They give thanks for God's provision.
And yet they've missed it.
They've missed it.
Jesus says,
come to me all you who are thirsty
and drink.
I am God's great provision.
And this invitation to Jesus
is not just intellectual assent.
It's a difficult question, isn't it?
When we say to people,
do you believe in Jesus?
They say, well, yes, I believe in Jesus.
What do they often mean by that?
It's kind of an intellectual assent.
It's a tick box, isn't it?
In the census for what faith are you?
But that's why John's gospel
is so very, very helpful.
What does it mean to believe in Jesus?
Jesus keeps using vivid images of participation,
of drinking,
of eating.
It is wholehearted participation
in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the spiritual drink
for the spiritually thirsty.
And of course,
you can't not think of,
can you,
that great passage in Isaiah,
in Isaiah 55,
where the servant of the Lord passages
have happened.
And the great climax of Isaiah 53
depicting Christ's crucifixion.
And then,
chapter 55,
the invitation,
come everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters,
and he who has no money,
come buy and eat,
come buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why do you spend your money
for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that
which does not satisfy?
Listen,
listen to me.
And eat what is good,
and delight yourself
in rich food.
Incline your year,
come to me,
hear that your soul may live.
And so Jesus stands on that day,
and he says,
come all who are thirsty.
Jesus,
the living water for our souls.
Of course,
it's full of the Old Testament,
isn't it?
There's people of Israel
who had been redeemed from Israel
and kept for 40 years
in the wilderness.
Do you remember?
They were thirsty,
and God provided water
from a rock in the desert.
And now,
God has provided living water
for you tonight in Jesus.
Are you thirsty?
Do you know your need for Jesus,
for what he offers?
Are you yearning for forgiveness
and acceptance?
Have you reached the end
of your efforts,
knowing that you are unable
to do it?
Because when you are truly thirsty,
you will see Jesus
and you will delight in him.
You will delight in that soul
quenching water
that he provides.
And the chances are,
maybe,
that tonight,
you don't feel
particularly spiritually thirsty.
You may not particularly feel
that you need Jesus right now.
You've got things sorted,
maybe.
Can you heed the warning
of verse 34?
Look what verse 34 says.
You will seek me
and you will not find me.
Where I am,
you cannot come.
You need to drink,
don't you?
Even when you don't feel thirsty.
I'm not really a runner,
despite my part run excellence.
But I'm not really a runner.
I don't do endurance sports.
But the golden rule
of hydration is this,
all right?
You don't wait
until you're thirsty
before you drink.
Is that right?
If you wait
until you're thirsty
in a marathon
before you really start drinking,
it's too late.
Your body will never
catch up
on that hydration.
And so,
that is why, isn't it,
you see people in marathons
right at the end,
they get delirious
and they trudge along
and they're all over the place
and they don't know
where they are.
What's happened?
They become dehydrated.
Because in the endurance race,
whether it's cycling
or running
or anything like that,
you need to drink
even if you don't feel thirsty.
You need to drink
when you feel great.
You need to drink
when you feel like
you can keep on going
at this pace forever.
And you might feel your life,
you're spiritually self-sufficient.
Yeah, you assent to Jesus.
Yeah, I'm part of the Christian club.
But what does that actually mean
for my dependence
on Jesus moment by moment,
day to day?
Drink.
All you who are thirsty,
drink from this living water.
And Jesus goes on to say,
doesn't he,
in verse 38,
whoever believes in me,
as the scripture says,
whoever believes in me,
streams of living water
will flow out
from within him.
The one who drinks Jesus,
that is,
believes in him,
will become
not just filled
with this water,
but will become
a source of living water
for others.
We could play with this image
for ages,
but I've got time.
John tells us here,
this is what Jesus meant,
this living water
from other people.
Verse 39,
he said,
didn't he,
now he said this
about the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit,
whom those who believed in him
were to receive,
for as yet the Spirit
had not been given,
because Jesus
was not yet glorified.
He's teaching us really
something important here,
that after his death
and his resurrection
and his ascension
and glorification,
Jesus would give
his Holy Spirit.
And that's what
he's talking about here.
This living water,
Jesus pours upon us
by his Holy Spirit.
That is the present work
of the Holy Spirit,
the fruit of the Holy Spirit,
this pouring into us
and through us,
this living water.
Of course,
if you know your Bible,
you know that the Holy Spirit
was active in the Old Testament.
The Holy Spirit
was there in creation.
Let us make man,
God says.
He was there
in the kings,
wasn't he,
and in the prophets,
and in the judges,
and in the musicians,
and the craftsmen.
The Spirit was there
and was upon them.
But this full gift
of the Holy Spirit
is the fruit
of Jesus' ministry.
Up to that point,
the Holy Spirit
had not been given
in this way,
because the Son
had not yet been glorified.
this is what the Old Testament
anticipated
and pointed forward to.
And they actually
remembered it
at the Feast of Tabernacles.
It was one of the things
they remembered.
Let me read to you
from Zechariah 12.
You don't need to turn to it.
But in Zechariah 12,
this is what is promised.
And I will pour out
on the house of David
and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem
a spirit of grace
and please for mercy,
so that when they look on me,
on him whom they have pierced,
they shall mourn for him.
As one mourns
for an only child
and weep bitterly over him,
as one weeps
over a firstborn.
And then in chapter 13,
verse 1,
on that day,
there shall be a fountain
opened in the house of David
and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem
to cleanse them
from all sin
and unrighteousness.
And here Jesus
stands up in Jerusalem
as the firstborn son.
As the one who
in six months' time
they would pierce.
And he says,
when you pierce me
on that day,
a fountain will be opened
that will cleanse you.
And it will cleanse you
from impurity
and from sin.
That's what living water does.
It is a fountain
of life and cleansing.
And through us,
this life and cleansing
goes to others.
A bit later in Zechariah chapter 14,
it says this,
on that day,
on that same day,
living water will flow
out of Jerusalem.
Half to the eastern sea,
half to the western sea,
in summer and in winter.
and the Lord,
Yahweh,
will be king
over the whole earth.
And on that day,
there will be one Lord
and his name,
the only name.
Living water
flowing out
in Jerusalem,
flowing out
across the lands
to us here
tonight,
to the ends
of the earth.
And this need
for water,
this need
is a cleansing
from sin
of bringing life
to the dead.
And that is the work
of the risen Lord Jesus
by his spirit
in us.
And praise God,
it is the work
of the risen Lord Jesus
by his spirit
through us
going out
from here
as that living water
goes out from us.
Well, thirdly,
there's confusion again
in verse 43.
Confusion and calling
and confusion.
The people are divided
because of Jesus.
Verse 40,
some say,
he is the prophet,
the one that Moses said
was coming.
Others said,
he is the Christ.
Others said,
how is it possible
for the Christ
to come from Galilee?
The Christ
is going to come
from Bethlehem.
They're so confused,
aren't they again?
A bit earlier on
in the chapter,
we saw earlier
they said,
well,
when the Christ comes,
we won't know
where he comes from.
But here's another group
saying,
actually,
we are the ones
that know
where he's coming from.
He's coming from Bethlehem.
He's coming from
the wrong place.
They're thoroughly confused.
Verse 44,
again,
some want to seize him,
but no one
laid their hands
on him.
Temple guards
have been sent
to arrest him.
They come back
to the Pharisees.
In verse 45,
the Pharisees say,
why didn't you
bring this Jesus
back with you?
And they say,
can you see it?
No one ever spoke
like this man.
No one ever spoke
like this man.
He's the greatest preacher
I've ever heard.
You can feel the temperature
in the room rise,
the Pharisees.
The Pharisees
fume.
Are you kidding?
Are you kidding me?
Has he deceived you also?
They say,
has anyone
of the people
that really matter
believed him?
Have any of the rulers
of the Pharisees
believed him?
Have any of the important
people in Jerusalem
believed in him?
It is only you
uneducated riffraff
that believe in Jesus.
You are fools
to believe in him.
A curse be upon you
for believing
this man is from God
and yet there's one,
isn't there?
There's one
who's not rejected Jesus.
Verse 50,
Nicodemus speaks up.
Nicodemus comes back
into the picture.
And Nicodemus
is on a journey
here at the expense
of his own reputation
and position.
It's not a massive
stand he makes,
is it?
He simply says,
don't you think
it might be appropriate
for us to investigate
this a little bit
further?
To actually look
at the evidence?
How often,
tragically,
do people dismiss
the Lord Jesus
without even looking
at the evidence?
And Nicodemus says,
he says,
well how about,
how about we actually
check it out a little bit?
We're reminded,
aren't we,
verse 50,
that this is the same
Nicodemus who'd come
to Jesus in chapter 3
in the middle of the night.
And Jesus said to him,
you must be born again,
Nicodemus,
to enter the kingdom
of God.
And here Nicodemus says,
does our Lord judge
a man without first
giving him a hearing
and learning what he does?
Our society certainly
condemns Jesus,
don't they,
without even listening
to him,
without hearing him.
Nicodemus is wealthy,
Nicodemus has power,
he has influence,
he is privileged,
and yet Nicodemus
knows his need.
And Nicodemus is there
at the end of the story.
He's there in chapter 19
when Jesus is taken down
from the cross
and it's Nicodemus
who is there with Joseph,
carrying Jesus' body,
wrapping it,
caring for it,
laying it in a tomb
because Nicodemus
knew his need.
He knew his thirst
and he comes to Jesus.
And so,
from this passage,
this week,
we ought to expect
when the name of Jesus
comes up,
great division,
great confusion,
great polarisation,
anger,
aggression.
But we ought always
to rejoice
when those who are thirsty
come to Jesus
and are cleansed.
And we need to come
to Jesus.
You may have been
a Christian
for 20,
30,
40 years.
Children,
do you know this?
Do you know that your
mum and dad
needs to come
to Jesus?
In whatever situation
of your life
you're in tonight,
you're at the end
of your rope.
You're at the end
of your ability
to deal
with that situation.
Come to Jesus.
And tonight,
things might be
going brilliantly
for you.
You need to come
to Jesus.
So tragically,
isn't it,
we try to get
that reviving energy
from everything else.
We make new resolutions.
We try hard.
And we can forget
that it is Jesus
who says,
come all you
who are thirsty,
come to the waters,
come by
and eat.
Listen to me.
Eat what is good
that your soul
may delight
in the richest affair.
Give ear
and come to me.
Hear me
that your soul
may live.
As we finish,
let me show you
just one little thing.
Look at verse 37.
on the last day
of the feast,
the great day,
Jesus stood up.
Teachers normally
sat down
in New Testament
times,
but Jesus
stands up
and he cries out.
Kids,
you're in school
tomorrow
and they're in the corridor
and there's nobody
moving in the corridor
and there's bustling
back and forth
and the head
master
or the head
mistress.
She stands
at the corridor
and she
raises her voice
and she shouts
and she wants you
to hear,
doesn't she?
Let's say
after the service,
you're milling around
after coffee and tea
and somebody's got
an announcement to make.
They stand on a chair
and they raise their voice.
What are they doing?
They're wanting you
to listen.
And Jesus Christ
is standing up tonight
and he is raising
his voice
and he is raising
his voice
because he wants
you to listen.
And this is what
Jesus Christ
wants you to hear.
If anyone thirsts,
let him come to me
and drink.
Let's pray.