The Profound Promise Jesus Made

Well, today is a very emotional day for me.

I suppose that goes for a very logical reason.

!

I've been away from you for several weeks, and that's atypical.

Judith and I took vacation and enjoyed it, first deer hunting, which she didn't participate

in.

And then we spent some quiet time at Norris Lake in Tennessee, but we couldn't help ourselves.

We came back a little early, and it was our privilege last Sunday to be in the services

and listened to you sing and listened to Pastor Saul as he ministered the Word of God to you,

and I was blessed.

I think about the words of the Shulamite woman when the prophet Elijah said, so what do you

need?

What can I give to you?

And she said this.

Does anybody know?

How many of you know what the Shulamite woman said?

One.

Linda Parsons.

Thank you.

It would be a good idea to know what the Shulamite woman said.

Here's what she said.

I dwell among my own people.

Don't underestimate the price and prize that that is.

So, it's my rich blessing to be with you this morning, and it is my privilege to open

the Word of God and share what we are going to study together in John chapter 7, and it

John 7 · chapter mention

goes without saying that one of the things that you have heard me say so many times is

that this passage is really exceptional.

It is.

But one of the things that makes a passage exceptional, for one, is that I have that undeserved and

rich privilege of studying the Scriptures specifically for my own soul's sake and then for yours.

Most of the time, that is a one-week process of prayer, meditation, study, and then the matter

of writing the sermon that I'm going to bring to you.

And this is an exception because I really have had three weeks to do it.

So, how many of you understand that things that mellow and ferment and kind of grow through

meditation actually get better?

And so, I want to tell you that this is an exceptional passage, for one, because it's the Scripture,

and two, because it has had the benefit of three weeks of prayer and study.

So, let me read the passage to you in John chapter 7, verse 37 through 39, and then pray.

John 7:37–39

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.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow living water.

Now this he said 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 yet glorified.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, this morning, as we come to you in prayer, we come with thanksgiving because

you are the good, the giver of all that is good.

You are supremely capable of meeting our needs far beyond our wildest imagination.

You who have ordained the plan of salvation have graciously called us to be your own,

have given to us your Scriptures that we rely upon this morning to inform and instruct us.

And you've also given to us, who are believers, the indwelling Spirit whose many-faceted ministry

includes helping us understand the Scriptures, includes helping us see the Lord Jesus more

clearly, includes also working in us that we who are your children would grow to be more

like him from day to day.

And so our prayer this morning is this, is that you who abide in us, you who are at work in

us, would this morning graciously work to tune our hearts to eternal and spiritual things and

draw our hearts away from the affections of this world and its distractions and focus solely on you.

And I pray, Lord, for those that are in our services that don't know Christ, that today

the preaching of the Word coupled by the prompting of the Spirit of God would draw them to see,

first of all, the darkness and the despair of their soul and that they would understand through your

enabling that Jesus alone is the answer to the emptiness, to the shame, to the guilt, to the

brokenness of an unrepentant heart.

And that those who are here this morning that know Christ would have their hearts encouraged

and strengthened, that their ambition when they leave this place would be to please you

who are the lover of their soul.

And that we with joy would drink from the well of living water.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, let me explain that this week is going to be the exegesis, fancy word, for I'm going

to dive into the text and kind of break it out for you.

And next week is going to deal with the application of this passage.

The first week we're going to look primarily at what Jesus says in this passage and what we

take away from that exactly as we see it here in the text.

Incidentally, at the end of the day, that's really what a pastor's responsibility is.

I'm not up here to give you a rendition on what happened in USA Today or CNN or Fox News

or whatever else.

I am up here to expressly and specifically open up the scriptures and help you see what

God says.

And by the way, one of the things that goes along with that is as I am preaching and teaching,

I should be kind of coaching and modeling how you can find it for yourself.

You see, being spiritually encouraged and nurtured and strengthened through the word of God is

not something that God intends to have happen in the believer's life once a Sunday.

It's to be a daily thing.

And so I pray that as you are listening and as you are learning, one of the things that's happening is that

you're learning how to do this yourself.

Go ahead.

Try it at home.

By the way, how many of you have ever seen those TV ads where it says,

this is being done by a professional, do not try this at home, that kind of thing?

How many of you notice that?

That is not what's going on here.

Okay?

I want you to try this at home.

I want you to expose yourself to the word of God and prayerfully ask the spirit of God to help you

learn and grow in understanding the word of God and in that process,

grow in your love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

So this week is exposition.

And we're going to look at what the text says and in particular how this passage is evangelistic.

Next week is going to deal with application.

And we're going to dive in and delve in the matter of, okay, how does this passage apply to us as believers?

With that, I want you to look there and recognize, first of all, that setting is important.

Remember, I'm giving you little signals for Bible study at home.

Setting is important.

The context is critical.

And I want you to understand the setting of Christ's great announcement.

Sometimes when we're speeding through a passage, we have a tendency kind of, well, I want to do verse 48 and 49

and I want to finish the chapter because it's on my reading plan.

And that's not all bad, but it helps to really dig in and say, what is going on here?

So I want you to mark what the text says there in verse 37.

It says,

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out.

John uses that phrase to identify the moment in the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Booths or the Feast of the Tabernacles

when Jesus made a particular announcement at that concluding day.

Now, I want you to understand that the Feast of Tabernacles was one of three explicit feasts

that God instructed His people, the nation of Israel, to celebrate publicly.

They were celebrations that were obligations to the nation of Israel.

How many of you enjoy Thanksgiving?

I mean, hey, we're going to have a Thanksgiving dinner, and it's a nice thing.

It's dinner on the grounds.

It's potluck.

It's all those good things rolled together.

But do you know that Thanksgiving celebration is not something that is obligated on us spiritually?

There's no passage in the Bible that says,

Thou shalt do Thanksgiving and Christmas and Easter.

You know, it's...

But God told the nation of Israel,

You are to have these three feasts and celebrations.

One of them was the Feast of Tabernacles.

And incidentally, that feast was the time in which God wanted them to live in...

Actually, to get out in the neighborhood or in their yard and live in tents.

And they did that.

In fact, if you want to go home and fire up your computer and Google it,

just kind of say,

You could order a contemporary Jewish tabernacle,

so you can do that in your yard when this time rolls around.

And you can go from soup to nuts.

The best ones are actually made out of real branches and kind of rough wood.

And they'll send you a package deal where you can set it up in your yard and you can be right with it.

Feast of Tabernacles was a celebration that they all kind of lived out in the rough for about a week.

It was a week of just absolutely joyful celebration

because the nation was remembering God brought us out of the land of Egypt

and He cared for us all the way.

How many of you have every now and then wondered,

Is He really going to take me all the way home?

I mean, today is pretty rough.

And what the nation of Israel did during the Feast of Tabernacles

is they reminded themselves,

The God who made promises is the one who's going to get you home.

He's going to take care of things.

And this is a time when you remember His care.

It was also a very interesting time where on every day,

the priest, one of the priests that was assigned with the responsibility,

would take a golden urn or a golden pitcher,

a large water pitcher,

and he would walk down to the Pool of Salome

and he would dip it in

and then he would carry it back to where the main altar was

and he would pour that water out.

Now for us, water's no big deal.

It really isn't.

I mean, if you want water, what do you do?

What do you do?

What do you do?

Isaac, when you want water, what do you do?

What do you do?

It's a buh.

If you want water, you can walk right out this door, those four doors,

and you can go to the drinking fountain or you can go to the sink.

Do you follow that?

I grew up in India.

My parents were missionaries.

And I can tell you that we lived in an area that rained all the time

for a very short period of time.

I mean, we had floods and then we had dry seasons.

And when it was a dry season, we had to have water carried.

And as a result of having all of our drinking water carried,

I have kind of an apoplectic attitude towards don't waste water, even now.

When Judith and I first got married, and I've told this story before,

but some of you probably forgot and others need to hear it.

We'd been married about a week and a half, and I heard water running in the bathroom.

Well, you know, I mean, when water runs in the bathroom, in my mind,

it should be only temporary.

I mean, you fill up a glass and that's it.

And the water was running, and the water was running,

and the water was running, and the water was running,

and I became really concerned about the exorbitant waste that was going on,

because even though water wasn't being carried at that time in my life,

I knew that water shouldn't be wasted.

I went into the bathroom.

I said, what are you doing?

She said, what does it look like?

I'm brushing my teeth.

I said, what's the water running for?

She said, well, that's what I do when I brush my teeth.

I said, no, you don't.

I said, what?

Now, there are some things that Judith has changed in my life,

and there are some things that I've changed in her life.

One of them is we don't waste water.

And here was this picture.

Day after day, the priest would dip that golden pitcher,

and he would then walk in joyful procession,

people singing and people rejoicing.

They would walk from the pool of Siloam over to the steps of the temple,

and they would come up to the great altar,

and they would pour it out.

And when they were pouring it out,

one thing that they were remembering, certainly,

was the way in which God had provided for them day after day after day in the wilderness,

water from the rock.

Another thing that actually is supposed is that the pouring out of the waters was kind of a prayerful time

in which the nation of Israel would say,

God, we are dependent upon you sending rain.

That's what the rabbis today would communicate.

I tend to think that the thinking of the Old Testament saint was probably a little more instructed by the Scriptures

rather than the matter of seasons.

And Alfred Edersheim, who is a Bible scholar,

kind of references the fact that this matter of taking that water from the pool

and then pouring it out on the steps there in front of the great altar

was really a reference to the coming of the Messiah and salvation

and also the giving of the Holy Spirit.

And so I'll...

By the way,

when a pastor makes a statement,

one of the things he ought to do is he ought to reference that with a Bible verse.

How many of you understand that?

So now we're coming to the,

if he said it, he better be able to prove it.

Everybody said, amen.

Okay, well, here we go.

Turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3.

Isaiah 12:3

And I'm going to just reference a little part of it.

Isaiah chapter 12, verse 3.

Isaiah 12:3

With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation,

and you will say in that day,

give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the people,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

With joy, you are going to draw water from the wells of salvation.

If you have ever been thirsty,

if you've ever been in an environment

where water was precious and valued

and something that you didn't take for granted like we do today,

then you can understand this verse is,

with joy,

you're going to have this resource

that's available for you.

And in this context,

it was a reference to the matter of salvation.

Another passage that I want you to reference,

you're there in Isaiah,

but I want you to turn over to Isaiah chapter 44, verse 3.

Isaiah 44:3

This is a prophecy of what will come in the future.

And there in verse 3 it says,

For I will pour water on the thirsty land

and streams on the dry ground.

I will pour my spirit upon your offspring.

And I want you to understand that when this water was being poured,

for one thing,

I do believe that it was a reference to the matter of salvation

and to the satisfaction that an individual receives

in having the gift of eternal life given to him by God.

But I believe also,

accurately on the basis of this passage,

that it was a reference to the giving of the Holy Spirit.

And I tend to prefer that understanding of the passage

to the idea as opposite to the idea

that it's just a matter of,

hey, we're asking you to do something with the rain.

So against the backdrop of this daily procession

for seven days they would do this,

and the recurring events of those seven days,

Jesus used the symbolic pouring out of the water

to announce his wonderful offer.

I want you to understand as you go back to John chapter 7

John 7 · chapter mention

that no one should be able to ever say

that Jesus was not clear about his person,

his mission,

or his offer of salvation.

Not only did he begin his public ministry

with the cleansing of the temple,

but he stepped out into the limelight

on this great day,

this great day of the Feast of the Tabernacles,

at the end of those seven days

of having the water poured

and that imagery in people's minds,

he came to the forefront,

and here's what he did.

Listen to me.

He shouted.

I debated in my office.

Should I really shout?

And I thought, well, some of you who are arresting,

it might be disconcerting,

so I won't do it.

Okay?

You understand that?

But I want you to hear it.

I mean, it's thunder.

I mean, Jesus let it rip.

He shouted,

if anyone thirsts.

In essence,

Jesus was saying,

I am the fulfillment of the promises of God.

I am the fulfillment of the promises of God.

Now, before we move on,

allow me to emphasize something here

from this opening text

that tells us something about

our God and our Savior,

the Lord Jesus.

I want to make this clear.

He will never be faulted

for hiding the message

and the hope of salvation.

Do you hear me say that?

He will never be faulted

for hiding the message of salvation.

Those who end up in hell

and die for their unrepentant sins

will not die in total ignorance.

They will die having chosen

to refuse what they have heard

with their own ears

and seen with their own eyes.

And I say that on the basis

of the character of Christ,

but I also say that

on the basis of Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

What does it say there?

Paul says,

I'm not ashamed of the gospel of God

because it's the power of God

unto salvation

to the Jew and to the Gentile.

And then he says,

hey, listen,

everybody hears

the testimony of the heavens.

And people have willingly chosen

to harden their hearts

against God's indictment of sin

and His offer of salvation.

Men who die in their sins

die because they have refused

and they have chosen

to stay with the hardness

of their heart

rather than to yield

to the authority of Christ

and the offer of salvation

that He grants them

in His finished work

on the cross.

Well, let's listen more carefully,

not only to the context,

but let's listen

to this incredible offer.

You're there in John chapter 7,

John 7:37

verse 37,

and 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.

I want you to understand

that Jesus made this incredible offer,

this broad offer of hope.

Think about those words

just for a moment.

If anyone thirsts,

if anyone thirsts,

I want you to understand

that when He made this announcement

in the public setting

that He did,

He was speaking

to all kinds of people.

Now, the inner court,

limited to Jews,

but when Jesus made this announcement,

it was something

that could be appreciated

by all who heard Him,

and He made this just broad,

overarching statement.

Listen,

if anyone is thirsty,

let him come to me.

Aren't you glad

that the offer of salvation

is not limited

to those who've got

their lives together?

I mean,

have you ever bumped into people

who,

well,

I'd like to have Jesus

as my Savior,

but, you know,

I'm just not there yet.

Okay?

Or,

there are some people

who think that,

well,

really,

Jesus is valuable

for those who

are pretty religious anyway.

I mean,

I'm doing the best I can,

and maybe I can add Jesus

to my list of personal friends.

That's not what He says here.

He says,

if anyone thirsts.

I do love the privilege,

the unbelievable blessing

of being an ambassador

of someone like that.

Thirsty?

Come on!

Have you ever been thirsty?

I mean,

really,

really desperately thirsty?

I was talking to,

Becky,

where are you?

Wave at me.

Becky Green.

Hi, Becky.

Can I tell this story?

That's okay.

Well,

now that I put you

on the public spot,

Becky's going to have

surgery Monday.

We're going to be

praying for Becky,

but Dennis and I

are going to spend time

while she's in surgery.

She's out,

you know,

but Dennis and I,

so we're talking about

having coffee together,

and Becky says,

don't talk about that

because I have to be NPO.

You know what NPO means?

It means it's tough.

It's hard.

Wait till you understand

what those words mean.

NPO.

Whoa.

Can't drink,

can't eat,

from 12 at night.

Now,

if you're going to have

to go NPO,

the best time to have

surgery is like

6 o'clock in the morning.

She's waiting till 3.30,

and so I said,

well,

I said,

Dennis and I,

we'll share coffee,

and we'll blow some

off the top,

you know,

just,

no one's ever accused me

of not being thoughtful,

you know.

I can tell you this.

Becky will be thirsty

at 3.30.

She'll be thirsty

because our body craves water.

Our body really needs water.

Do you understand that?

Water's not an option,

and yet,

it's amazing

how easily

we are distracted

from things

that are so important

to us,

and here's Jesus

who comes and says,

listen,

if anyone is thirsty,

let him come to me.

I do think,

just for a moment,

about the blessing

we have,

you and I,

who know Christ,

of being able

to announce

on Christ's behalf

what he said.

Do you understand that?

How many of you

bump into thirsty people

all the time?

I mean,

they're all around.

Now,

here's,

they're really not aware

of how desperately

thirsty they are

because they haven't

connected,

follow me,

they haven't connected

the unintended

consequences

of sin

with the genuine

concern of their heart.

How many of you,

people,

well,

my wheels are coming off,

and the problem really

is everybody else

around me.

That's how it goes.

And we have the problem

of saying,

actually,

what you need is Jesus.

You're thirsty.

Well,

I want you to understand

that not only did Jesus

make this incredibly

broad offer,

but he promised

to satisfy

the thirst

of desperate souls.

Look at the passage.

let him come to me

and stand in a long line

and wait for a sip.

When Becky goes into surgery,

I mean,

they may give you a pill.

I've been in there.

And they come in with

what I refer to

as micro Dixie cups.

They're medicine cups.

You know,

it's what you get your pills in,

and they come in and say,

now just take a sip.

Now,

what's wrong with filling it

up to the top?

I mean,

if I'm going to have

that 1.5 ounce,

you know,

it's like,

go to the top.

No,

they just,

all you have to do

is have this little sip.

Here's Jesus.

You come to me and drink.

I'll satisfy you.

And as you stop

and think about it,

I want you to understand

that here's Jesus

making this incredible offer

to people.

You come to me

and drink.

I'm struck by the fact

that getting thirsty enough

to ask Jesus for a drink

doesn't happen to those

who think they've got it

all together,

right?

I mean,

you've got your membership

in the country club,

and you have a second

vacation home,

and you're really counting

on the stock market

supporting your future plans

for self-indulgence.

And everything's working perfectly.

And someone comes along

and says,

if you're thirsty,

you come to Jesus.

I don't know if I can fit him

into my schedule.

But, you know,

when life's rough

and things are difficult

and things aren't going right,

that's the person

who's interested in Jesus

and wants to pay attention

to the offer.

I'm struck by

how Jesus handled

some of those people

who were pretty full of themselves.

Over in Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5 · chapter mention

and I'll turn there

just for a moment if you would,

Luke chapter 5,

Luke 5:31

verse 31 and 32,

here's Jesus kind of

interacting with the scribes

and Pharisees

who really,

they were irritated

with Jesus.

31 and 32.

32.

And Jesus answered them.

What had happened

is that the scribes

and Pharisees

were kind of grumbling

with his disciples

because he was around

tax collectors and sinners.

He was with them.

There.

Why are you doing that?

Jesus said,

hey,

verse 31,

those who are well

have no need of physician.

Now, by the way,

did the scribes

and Pharisees

have a disease

that was going to lead

to their eternal condemnation?

The answer is,

oh yeah,

they just didn't know it.

They were sick,

but they didn't think so.

So here's Jesus

kind of dealing

with their attitude.

He says,

hey,

those who are well

don't need the physician.

Mattia's a physician

and I mean,

I don't visit Mattia

in his place of business

except when I'm really sick.

You don't go to the doctor

if you're healthy.

And so here's the statement.

Those who are well

have no need of the physician.

Those who are sick,

I have not come to call

the righteous

but sinners to repentance.

So if you're sitting here

and you're full of yourself

and you think you got it

all together,

don't be surprised

if you're not hearing anything.

But if you're sitting here

this morning

and your heart's hurting

and you're kind of thinking

of all the baggage

and the messes,

then Jesus is talking to you.

It says here,

I came to call sinners

to repentance.

By the way,

can Jesus satisfy?

Can He really satisfy?

Can He really meet

the needs of broken hearts

and people whose lives

are a mess?

I've got to tell you,

yes.

I'm living proof of it.

And you are too

who know Christ.

One more piece.

That's the unbelievable outcome.

You look there at the passage,

it says,

verse 38,

whoever believes in me

as the scripture said

or has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

Underline the passage, please.

My pen started leaking.

I don't think I have anything

on my shirt,

so it's over here

wrapped in a Kleenex

and inside the bulletin, okay?

But take your pen out

and underline this.

Because I want you

to understand

that this is a supremely

important statement

that is very often overlooked

in believers' lives.

Let me read the two verses again

and cling to them

in your thinking.

Whoever believes in me

as the scripture has said

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

Now this he said

about the spirit

whom those who believed

in him were to receive.

Josh Bernard,

where are you?

Children's Church.

Okay.

Pray for Josh Bernard.

I've asked Josh

to do a little skit for me,

okay?

And he came to me

this morning.

You know,

pastors think of harebrained ideas

and then throw them off

on other people

and hope they can get them done.

That's me.

But I want Josh

to do a little skit

about this issue

of the Holy Spirit

and this passage.

So you can pray with him,

okay?

There's no promises

and there is pressure.

But, you know,

just so you understand.

I've got to tell you,

when I read this passage

and it began to kind of

soak into my life

several weeks ago,

like, my man,

this is a good passage.

This is a profound passage.

Whoever believes in me

as the Scripture has said,

out of his heart

will flow rivers

of living water.

We know what Jesus

was talking about

because we're told

in verse 39,

what Jesus was saying

is that those who believe

will be more than just

personally satisfied,

they will become

satisfiers to others.

Did you hear that?

Do you understand that?

I want you to think with me

just for a moment

of what Jesus was really saying

in this passage

and turn, if you will,

over to the passage

in John 4, verse 14.

John 4:14

Okay?

John 4, verse 14.

John 4:14

Now here's Jesus

with the woman at the well.

Rank, known sinner.

Been shacking up

with one man after another,

just, you know,

kind of a,

she had problems.

She comes to Jesus

and he lets her know

that if she believes in him,

she would be satisfied.

Whoever drinks of the water

that I will give him

will never be thirsty again.

And that's true.

Those who come to faith

in Christ

are no longer thirsty.

Their thirst is satisfied

in the person

of the Lord Jesus

and I think it's fair

for us to recognize

that salvation satisfies

the thirsty soul.

Let me say it slowly.

Salvation satisfies

the thirsty soul.

And one of the things

that should go on

in your life is

you're thinking to yourself

this morning,

well, have I ever really

had my soul satisfied?

Am I satisfied with Jesus?

There's some of you

sitting here

and the truth of the matter

is you grew up in the church.

You learned the Bible stories

from childhood.

You memorized all the verses

in Awana.

You've got it all together

in terms of outside,

but there's never been

the genuine satisfaction

that comes

through the work

of the Spirit of God

in drawing you

to the cross.

All my life long

I had panted

for a drought

from some cool stream.

Songwriter goes on

and says this,

Hallelujah, I've found it.

Talking about the Lord Jesus.

Go back again,

if you will,

to John chapter 7,

John 7:38

verse 38.

And look at the passage

where Jesus points this out.

He says,

Hey, listen.

Whoever believes in me,

as the Scripture says,

out of his heart

will flow streams

of living water.

Genuine salvation

not only satisfies,

but it turns the believer

into a satisfier.

I want you to get your hands

around that.

Think with me.

Let me say it again,

and I want you to pay attention.

Genuine conversion

not only satisfies,

but it turns the believer

into a satisfier.

Hey,

I didn't say it.

Do you understand that?

I didn't say it.

All I'm doing is repeating

what Jesus said to you.

He said,

You who believe in Him

are going to be satisfiers.

Does a dissatisfied world

like when other people

are satisfiers?

What's the answer?

Well,

think with me,

you know.

By the way,

let's kind of,

I'm going to steal ahead

just a little bit

and tell you a little bit

about next week.

Come anyway,

you know,

but here's the point.

When the Holy Spirit

is working in a believer's life,

can a person be saved

and not have the Holy Spirit?

The answer is N-O.

No.

No.

Okay?

When the Holy Spirit

is in the believer's life,

and that happens

at the moment of salvation,

He is there

as the resource

to make us

stop being dissatisfied,

to be satisfied,

and make us satisfiers.

By the way,

have you ever found anybody

that argues with love,

joy, peace,

longsuffering,

patience,

goodness,

meekness?

Anybody?

I really don't like peace.

Yeah,

that love business said,

don't be giving that to me.

You know,

it's like,

hey,

the fruit of the Spirit

satisfies broken people.

Do you understand that?

And those who have

faith in Christ

end up being

satisfiers.

Can you see that

in your life today,

honestly?

You know,

Zacchaeus was satisfied,

wasn't he?

Right?

Remember that?

Zacchaeus was satisfied

after he met Christ,

and he actually ended up

being a satisfier.

Matthew,

the tax collector,

he was satisfied.

And he ended up

being a satisfier.

Boy,

the woman at the well,

classic illustration,

remember?

Came to the well,

thirsty,

went home satisfied,

and she became a satisfier.

Other people flocked

to hear about Jesus

because they were satisfied

with what they saw

happening in her life.

Do you see that

in your life today?

I am fully persuaded

that those who are

genuinely saved

stay saved.

What Jesus does

stays done.

So,

how do I know

that he saved me?

That's a fair question,

isn't it?

The way I know

he has saved me

is not because

I know the Bible verses.

Now,

that's important.

Apart from

the word of God,

you can't be well informed,

but how do I know

that I am saved?

One is that

my soul is satisfied.

I have received

by the grace of God

an abiding,

lasting relationship

with the Lord Jesus

that has granted me

acceptance

in the beloved.

But there's something else.

I can look back

over my life

and you who know Christ

can see the same thing.

And he took you

from being a miserable,

unhappy,

broken wreck

and slowly

over the years

has made you become

someone who's not only

satisfied with him

but is a satisfier

of broken,

heartbroken,

hard lives.

Isn't that right?

So,

let me put it to you

practically.

There's some of you

here this morning

that do not know Christ

as your Savior.

Tim Kenoyer doesn't know

because none of you

have saved,

unsaved written

on your head.

You follow that?

It's not like I can see that.

But I just know.

There are some of you here

that do not know Christ.

And the truth of the matter is

is that

the unintended signals

of that

relationship

come out

like this.

Your life is marked

by perpetual

dissatisfaction,

by messiness,

by the unintended

consequences of sin,

by a complete inability

ultimately

to change

who you are.

And I would plead

with you this morning

on the basis

of the work

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He came into the world

to deal with

broken,

ruined lives

and he offers

salvation to all

who will humble

themselves and say,

Jesus,

I don't need,

listen to this carefully,

I don't need

any more evidence.

I figured it out.

I'm a mess

and I can't save myself.

Will you please

forgive me

and be my savior?

Isn't that simple?

You know,

it's not like you have

to crawl across

broken glass

or walk on hot coals.

You have to repent

and confess your sins.

There are some of you

here today

that do know Jesus.

You've been saved.

But the truth

of the matter is

is that you have not

made much progress

at moving from,

well,

there was a time

when I was satisfied

to being a satisfier.

How do I know

you're not a satisfier?

Hey,

everybody smile.

People don't like

grumpy people.

At least in my home

they don't like

grumpy people

and Judith doesn't like

when I have those moments.

And you know,

you're not satisfied yourself.

You're a grumpy.

You're a moody.

You're an unhappy.

You're irritable.

You're angry.

Am I doing well

with all the signals

anybody identifying

I've missed?

You know,

it's like,

hey,

you're not doing very well

at satisfying other people.

Well,

so,

you may have left

your first love.

You can't be filled

with delight

and satisfaction

in Jesus

without becoming

magnetic

to a broken world.

You also may be

an individual

who is sitting here

this morning

who conscious

and deliberate

in your

willing

disobedience

to God

at the high

and holy

calling

of your life.

Do you follow that?

So,

why are you

drawing breath?

Trick question.

So,

I can spend

more time

on Pinterest.

So,

I can really

invest my life

in sports.

So,

I can acquire

a mass

so I can retire

to Florida

or spend

the next six years

driving around

the world

in a motor home.

Is that why

he kept me alive?

No.

So,

I,

satisfied in Jesus,

can let other

people know

that there is

only one person

in whom

there is redemption

and it's

Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Let's close

in prayer.

Holy Spirit,

this morning

we ask

that you

lift up

Jesus

and that

those who

are here

today

that are

believers

whose lives

are marked

by a

deficiency

in being

a satisfier

of other

people

would be

humble enough

this morning

to come

to you

and say,

Lord,

it's not

supposed to

be that

way.

And I

want to

move forward

in doing

the right

thing.

I want

my life

to be

about you

and not

me.

And I

confess,

I need

the work

of the

Holy Spirit.

And that

those who

are here

today

that do

not know

Christ,

that today

the Spirit

of God

would bear

in on

their life

and that

profound

dissatisfaction

with the

darkness

and the

despair

of their

soul

would have

no remedy

except in

Christ.

That they

would understand

the sweetness

of the

gospel offer

that whosoever

comes to

me,

I will

never

cast out.

And that

they would

come with

brokenness

and humility

and say,

I am a

sinner who

stands justly

condemned

before a

holy God.

But I

believe

God sent

Jesus to be

my Savior

and He

died on

the cross

for my

sins

and He

made a

promise.

Whosoever

believes in

Jesus will

have everlasting

life.

Let that be

their prayer

this morning.

I ask in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.