During the heatwave we experienced here in Western Canada, both in the Spring and then just a couple of weeks ago, people were desperate for water and refreshing rain.
It caused me to think of the comparison to our spiritual condition after having gone through a dry season. Water cleanses, water refreshes, and water gives life! Water can transform a barren countryside into a fruitful field.
We have seen this happen in Africa when refreshing rains have come. Today we need the refreshing of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We trust this song linked below by Vinesong entitled Let Your Living Water Flow/Thank You Lord will help prepare your heart to receive the message on Living Waters for the Thirsty.
Scripture Reading: John 7:37-39.
Revelation 22:17: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth, say Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely” (KJV).
INTRODUCTION: There is a spiritual hunger and thirst in the heart of every person that can only be truly satisfied by a deep spiritual relationship with the true and living God, who revealed Himself to mankind in the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!
- THIS DEEP SPIRITUAL THIRST FOR THE TRUE AND LIVING GOD IS EXPRESSED ALSO IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES.
In the Psalms:
- Psalm 42:1-3: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God”.
Do you sense this deep spiritual thirst in your heart?
- Psalm 63:1-8: “O God, you are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for you in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So, I have looked for you in the Sanctuary, to see your power and your Glory.”
We also have a deep desire to see God’s glory and power revealed amongst us these days!
- NOTE THE WORDS OF ISAIAH, THE PROPHET OF REDEMPTION
- Isaiah 12:3: “Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” As we shall see later in this study, the LORD is promising that a time was coming when He would provide an abundance of living waters that would truly satisfy the deep spiritual thirst in our hearts.
- Isaiah 44:3: “For I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.”
What a wonderful prophetical promise! Are you thirsty? Do you feel spiritually dry in your experience? God has made this wonderful promise to all of us and to our descendants. The Lord desires to send showers of blessing upon us. Let us open our hearts to receive.
- Isaiah 55:1-3: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come; buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Hear, and your soul shall live.”
There are also many today who are spending their time, energy, and money on things that cannot satisfy. Heed the call of the Lord today to come drink freely, the living, satisfying, waters of life.
- The Words of this Song express this truth so powerfully!!
“Ho! Everyone that is thirsty in Spirit
Ho! Everyone that is weary and sad:
Come to the Fountain, there’s fullness in Jesus.
All that you are longing for come and be glad.”
“Child of the Kingdom be filled with the Spirit:
Nothing but fullness thy longing can meet!
Tis the enduement for life and for service.
Thine is the promise so certain -so sweet.”
Chorus
“I will pour water on him that is thirsty,
I will pour floods upon the dry ground.
Open your heart for the gift I am bringing,
While you are seeking me, I will be found.”
3. NOTE ALSO THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH THE PROPHET.
- Jeremiah 2:13: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and have hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
There are also many today who have done this. This grieves the heart of God. They need to repent and return to the Lord, the fountain of living waters, and He will forgive, restore, and revive them again, as they drink deeply of Him.
4. NOW LET US NOTE CAREFULLY THE WORDS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
- Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.” What a wonderful promise our Lord has given us here in this passage of scripture. How reassuring!
- Jesus’ Words to the Woman of Samaria in John chapter 4.
In this passage of scripture, we see Jesus speaking to a spiritually thirsty woman of Samaria who had been drinking at the broken cisterns of this world which did not satisfy the deep longing in her heart.
She had come to draw water at the well of Samaria where Jesus was seated. Jesus spoke to her about the living waters which He had come to give those who are thirsty. As we read the full passage of Scripture in this chapter, we see this spiritually thirsty woman of Samaria opening her heart and drinking from the well of salvation, and finding satisfaction in her heart.
She left her waterpot [which represented her old life] and went into the city, inviting others to come to Christ. They came and heard His Word and believed on Him. This woman not only drank the living waters of salvation herself, but she shared the message of these living waters with others.
She became like an evangelist and soul-winner. There are many all around us today like this woman who are spiritually hungry and thirsty. We need to go to them and tell them about the ‘free, living, satisfying, waters’ that are found only in the Lord Jesus.
- The invitation of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem in John 7:37-39.
In the Expositors Bible Commentary, [Frank E. Gaebelein general editor], we gather the following information about the Jewish ‘Feast of Tabernacles’. “The feast of Tabernacles was celebrated in the autumn on the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Leviticus 23:34), which would compare roughly to the second week of October in our Calendar.
It began five days after the Day of Atonement [Yom Kippur] and lasted eight days. [Leviticus 23:33-44; Deuteronomy 16:13-17]. Each family constructed its own temporary shelter of branches to live in for the period of the feast. This typified the years of wandering in the desert before the people entered the promised land.
The feast was joyful in character and was a time of thanksgiving for the harvest that marked the transition from nomadic poverty to stable affluence in their own land. It was one of the three annual feasts at which attendance was required of all Jewish men. Deuteronomy 16:16.
“The feast was established as a memorial to the wandering in the wilderness where water and food were scarce. When the people immerged from the desert into the land of Canaan, they enjoyed regular rainfall and plentiful crops. (Daily Sacrifices were also offered during this Feast.) The celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles included a daily procession of priests from the Temple to the Pool of Siloam, from which they drew water that was poured out as a libation (Offering to God) at the altar. This was accompanied by the reading of Isaiah 12:3 “With Joy you will draw water from the wells of Salvation”.
Note: It was possibly at this particular time on the last day of the feast which was called ‘the great day’ that ‘’Jesus stood’’ (so that all could see Him) and “cried out’’ (so all could hear Him), 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”. John 7:37-38.
Year after year the people had gathered and gone through this religious ritual or ceremony, but their hearts were still spiritually thirsty. Jesus is saying here that He came to fulfill what was typified in this religious feast. He is the fountain of ‘living waters’ and all who drink from the living waters will find satisfaction and reality in Him. It says in John 7:39 “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”.
- In Exodus 17:1-7 we have the account of when Israel thirsted for water in the desert, and Moses cried out to the Lord for help and direction. God told Moses to “take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go. Behold I will stand before you there on the Rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink’ and Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel”.
- In 1 Corinthians 10:4 it says “And all drank of the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ”: So the Rock which Moses smote with the rod typified Christ ‘The Rock of our salvation,’ who would also be smitten on the cross of Calvary for our sins, would rise again from the dead the third day, would ascend to the right hand of God and be glorified, and would pour out the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost as living waters for all who are thirsty to come and drink freely. Compare Again John 7:37-39.
- The Lord Jesus spoke further about the coming of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-18; 15:26 and 16:5-15. The Lord Jesus told his disciples that it was necessary for Him to go away [return to the Father] so that He could send the Comforter, Helper, the Holy Spirit to them so that they would not be as orphans. He promised that the Holy Spirit would be in them giving them life and guide them into all truth. He would glorify Him (Christ), and He would also convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
- Christ was then crucified for our sins and paid in full the price of our redemption. [John 19:30 — 1 Peter 1:18-21]
- On the evening of His resurrection in John 20:22 “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”. He also commanded his disciples who were to be His witnesses to tarry in Jerusalem until they received the ‘Promise’ of the Father; the enduement of power from oh high.Luke 24:48-49.
- Then in Acts (compare 1:4, 5–8) Luke the author, refers again to the “Promise of the Father,” which would endue them with power to be Christ’s witnesses.
- Acts 1:9-11 gives us the record of Christ’s ascension to heaven. The disciples along with others, numbering 120 men and women, continued daily in prayer and supplication until the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:14- & Acts 2), when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon all of them and filled them to overflowing as Jesus had promised. Read Acts 2:1-8; Peter in explaining this on the Day of Pentecost said “This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear”. Acts 2:32-33: Peter further stated that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for all who repent and turn to Christ in faith. Acts 2:37-39 (please read). This fullness of the Holy Spirit is available today for all true believers. Compare Acts 2:17-18 & Acts 2:38-39 All true believers in Christ have been born of the Spirit (John 3:3-8) and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (compare Romans chapter 8), but not all are baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit and endued with the power of the Holy Spirit for effective witnessing for Christ. Compare again Acts 1:4, 5, and 8.
CONCLUSION: Are you spiritually thirsty? Come to Jesus the fountain of living waters and drink in deeply. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who can truly satisfy the deep spiritual thirst in our hearts.
Then remember the words of Jesus when He said, “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We are to allow the living waters within us to flow out to others in blessing. Others around us are also thirsty for this living water. We need to share with them what Jesus has given us.
Come to Jesus the fountain of living waters and drink deeply today. Are you spiritually thirsty for more? Are you spiritually dry? Again, The Lord Jesus invites all to come, drink deeply at the fountain of living waters, the Lord Jesus Himself. He will refresh and revive you again and then make you a blessing to others.
Below is a link to the song, Revive us Again, by the Gaither’s that I believe will be a blessing to you:
May the Lord send showers of blessing and times of revival/refreshing to all of us in these days. John 7:37-39. Revelation 22:17. Note again the words of this passage of scripture. “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come and let him that hears say, Come. And let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (NKJV). God Bless.
Word in Season: Lloyd Schuetz
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