Are You Thirsty?

John 2021 • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Time Is Urgent

Jesus told the crowds that their time for salvation would be short. He said that He would be with them just a little while longer and then He was going to be with the Father. The crowds did not understand what He was talking about. They believed that He was going to the Dispersion. This was a group of Jews that left Israel and joined the Greeks.

The thought of this infuriated the crowds because the dispersion were a hated group. They were seen as traitors to the nation of Israel. These were a people group that lived outside Palestine and often fell into the custom of the Gentiles. The idea that Jesus would go so far as to remove himself from the nation of Israel was preposterous.

Jesus was speaking of His crucifixion. He was saying that in 6 months that He would return to His Father in heaven. He would no longer walk this earth and continue to teach, do miracles, and reveal that He is the Messiah.

Our time is short

Just as Jesus expressed a sense of urgency to come to Him for salvation to the crowds, He expresses the same sense of urgency to us today. Not because He will not be here, for He is omnipresent, but because we are going to die or He will return. Both of these factors carry ith them a sense of urgency because we don’t know the time for either one of them.

The prophets and apostles also cautioned us to come to Christ for salvation quickly.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Is. 55:6

Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— 2 Cor. 6:2

7 He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,

“Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.” Heb. 4:7

When you sense the Spirit of God calling you into salvation, respond immediately! There may not be another opportunity. There is nothing more important than to respond to the Holy Spirit in salvation when He calls.

So how do I know when He calls?

Jesus Invitation

Jesus stood up and gave the greatest invitation that has ever been given. He said “If anyone is thirsty, [b]let him come to Me and drink. John 7:36 He was inviting the crowd to come and believe in Him and be saved. He mentioned three things: 1. If anyone is thirsty. 2. come. 3. drink. These three things are necessary for salvation.

Thirst

Jesus said if you are thirsty. Thirst is one of the greatest feelings known to humanity. One scholar describes it as the absence of the necessary. Jesus is obviously not talking about physical thirst here. He is referring to the thirsty soul. Our soul is dry because of the absence of God in our life. Our sin has separated us from God, and we live in a miserable state of sin. What we need is the cleansing flood of the Holy Spirit to apply the forgiving blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of our sin. It is only this that can satisfy the thirsty soul.

The unbeliever only has a thirst for the things of the flesh. 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17 The lust of flesh, eyes, and boastful pride of life will not satisfy the thirst soul. It is like drinking saltwater. What you believe will quench your thirst, actually makes you thirst all the more. You will always want something else to satisfy the flesh. Something more attractive will always catch your eye. The pride of life will rob you of contentment and gratitude.

The believer can also go through seasons of spiritual drought. When they thirst for the wrong things, they will be left thirsty. Entertainment through social media poisons the mind of the believer. It promises satisfaction of fulfillment but robs you of time that could be spent in God’s word. How many of us have found yourselves looking at Facebook, Instagram, or Tic Tock just to look up and see that we have wasted on hour of our time? Some get carried away with politics. They allow a liberal media to get them stirred up and angry because they express an opinion that disagrees with yours. Sports is one that I struggle with. Football season is the worst. I will find myself watching as many as 4 games on a Saturday. I will get very emotional over a game. I must set parameters to protect myself spiritually. As you can see there are many things that we desire that we want to satisfy a thirst for our soul.

Jesus wants us to thirst for Him. It is our thirst for Him that builds relationship with Him. The thirst of our souls is quenched as we discover Christ and He becomes our satisfaction instead of the things of this world. The things of this world are temporary. Christ is forever!

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matt. 5:6

If you are thirsty COME!

Come

You will find the quenching of your thirsty soul at the foot of the cross. It requires you to come. In order to do this you must stop what you are doing, look upon the one who forgives and come to Him.

It is a religious term called repentance. You must decide that you want Jesus more than your sin. This is difficult because sin is desirable. If sin were not desirable we would not live in it. Unfortunately the consequences of sin is destruction. Jesus puts it plainly when He says, 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matt. 7:13-15

You must decide to come to Him.

Drink when you come to Him

Drink

When you thirst and come to Christ you must Drink of the forgiveness that He gives. This can be hard to do, because we have not done anything to receive it. Many of us believe that we have to earn salvation by doing good things and being a good person. This is not what Jesus says. He simply says drink. We have to receive by faith the forgiveness that He offers. We must believe in the sufficiency of His atoning sacrifice on the cross for our salvation.

You don’t earn it. It is a gift that you must receive. . 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10

Jesus promises living water when you drink!

Jesus Gives Living Water

Jesus promises rivers of living water to all those who believe in Him. He is referring to the Holy Spirit. When a person believes in Jesus Christ as their Savior, He gives them the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the one that affects the grace for us to follow Christ. He is the one that directs us in the good works he has prepared for us.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:26-27

The Holy Spirit is our helper!

7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [c]Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. John 16:7-15

The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin.

The Holy Spirit convicts us to righteousness.

The Holy Spirit makes us aware of the coming judgment.

The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.

The Holy Spirit discloses what is to come.

The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.

The Holy Spirit communicates to us from Jesus words.

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