Christ's Offer to Divided Listeners

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

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

!

that

Thank you.

Thank you.