The Jesus Series: RELY, Part 3. John 7:37-39

Transcription

1 The Jesus Series: RELY, Part 3 Sunday, October 28, 2018 John 7:37-39 The last 2 weeks we have paused our travel through the Gospel of John and we have been circling - if you will - over verses of John 7 and taking time to focus in on the topic of the Holy Spirit. 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 39 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. I had a good conversation with a friend this week, and the dynamic we were discussing is how even as Christians we are lulled into complacency; that we often only realize our deep need for God s help - when we find ourselves in trouble; when we fall into sin, perhaps into a sin that is unfortunately way too familiar. Or we find ourselves not doing well health-wise, or a relationship issue comes to the surface, financial problems are mounting, or our job is frustrating. And then (hopefully) we realize - I need God. We run to him. Which IS a good thing. The Lord is the stronghold of my life...for he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble... (Psalm 27). So we should run to him. But for many of us our issue is not in the hard times, but rather when everything is steady. If you have been to one of the Tres Dias discipleship weekends, then you have prayed that nightly prayer where we lift up those who have the tremendous problem of having no problems at all. It seems a bit odd when you hear it. What does that even mean; how could having no problems - be a problem? Running to God only in the day of trouble, is a sign of a serious spiritual issue. I think it is an issue in the sense of Hosea 13:6-7 speaking of those in the first Exodus, where God rescued them from slavery in Egypt - It was I who knew you in the wilderness, in the land of drought. but when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me. My friend I was talking to said something profound about this tendency to forget our need for God in the midst of blessings; He said, My issue is, I dont realize I am thirsty until I am already dehydrated. And he meant that in the sense Jesus meant it here in John 7, Spiritual Thirst - which was a topic we dived into last week. We spiritually crave, so we seek to Quench our Thirst, the question is how? Where does our HELP come from? We seek satisfaction in inadequate water sources, that ultimately do not nourish us; And as my friend said, we often do not even realize there is a problem until we are dehydrated, until that day of trouble comes.

2 I believe many of us can relate to that statement. The reason I am purposefully leaving us here in John 7, and spending so much time on this topic - is because I believe a life lived primarily FROM our own strength (where we trust in our experience, our knowledge, our education, our wisdom, our abilities, our ways) is a spiritually weak life, devoid of God s power, resulting in little to no spiritual fruit. I believe we are pulled to try and quench spiritual thirst in our own power, with created things - independent from God, and that we go as far as to call it maturity. I have always thought that this would get easier - not sermon delivery, but sermon writing. This is the hardest thing that I do. I AGONIZE almost every week about what I am going to teach; I analyze almost every word. And I had older friends tell me that it gets easier as you go; and 13 years in, for me it never has. Every week I sit down to write and it s like I am at the bottom of this huge mountain and it is going to be a hard climb. And I pray - God I have no idea what I am supposed to say, Lead me. And I start climbing and its hard, but as I do HE IS SO GRACIOUS. And so part of me, I want this to be easy. I would like for 8-10 hours to take 2-3 hours. But here is the reality - if I was at the point where I could take my experience, my knowledge, my talent - and just do this - it would not be as beneficial to you. What is most beneficial for you is if I come to that blank paper weak, unsure of myself, reliant on and desperate for God. So the reason we are camping here for a few weeks - is because I believe we (the church as a whole) is living in weakness, because we do not have a daily realization of our desperate need for God in ALL things, and therefore we do not follow-through on seeking HIS power. What do we most often AGONIZE over? We agonize in the day of trouble. We agonize at job frustrations, money woes, relational conflict, and sports teams. Are we agonizing over how to love our spouse well; biblically? Are we agonizing over bringing up our children in the instructions of the Lord? Are we agonizing over how to grow spiritually, in discipleship? Are we agonizing over holiness? Are we agonizing over how to steward well our resources? Are we agonizing over how to serve Christ with the gifts He has given? Are we agonizing over how to keep from falling into sin, or how to grow in love for God and people? Now - we may ask- is that really what God is calling me to? Agonizing, really? That seems a bit of a stretch. Well, what if I told you that the Greek verb from which we get Agony is Agonizomai (a-go-knee-zo-my). It means to struggle, to fight, to labor fervently, or to STRIVE. Where is it used? Luke 13:24 - STRIVE (Agonizomai) to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 1 Tim 4:10 - Speaking of Godliness, Paul says, To this end we toil and STRIVE (Agonizomai) because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 6:12 - FIGHT (Agonizomai) the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession of many witnesses.

3 I think it is probably a bit of a American Church misnomer that God doesn t want us to struggle or agonize. I think the reality is he wants us to daily Agonizomai / strive for the right things in the right way. The complacent life, the life that is relying on and RESTING in human ability, experience, and resources will seem strong but will in reality be very weak, with very little eternal output. The agonizing life, the life struggling for God and His Kingdom, that understands DAILY need for him, that life will be strong, producing I believe tremendous spiritual fruit. How do we Agonize well? First, we must be in God s word. We are never going to know what God expects, what God wants, what God commands, what God gives, where God is leading - without continually taking in what He has written. This is not the only way God speaks to us, but it is the primary way God speaks; and all other manner that God speaks will be affirmed and confirmed by this word. Secondly, we Agonizomai - strive to - follow God through His word. But how do we do this well? There is a very specific way we have been called to agonize for the written things. Paul described obedience in Colossians 1:29, in context He is talking about obedience to his call to ministry, For this I toil, STRUGGLING (Agonizomai) with all his energy that powerfully works within me. That is a crucial verse for us. God leads us, even commands us, to struggle; for salvation, for Godliness, for faith, and for ministry - or to use a phrase from Ephesians that doesn't sound so professional - to struggle for the good works which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in them. Is all of this difficult? Yes. Don t be afraid of difficult. Don t run from difficult. Agonoize for the things of Christ and His Kingdom, but not alone; not in your own power - which is the whole point. We agonize with the ACTIVE ENERGY and OPERATION, the POWER, of God that works within us. So Jesus in John 7, says that all who come to him with their thirst - another way of saying believing in Him for salvation - well have RIVERS of living water placed in them; an active operation of God s power - and John tells us in verse 39 THIS is the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, John says for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Now this does not mean that the Holy Spirit had not been active in the world up until that point. If we were doing a longer study on the Spirit, as in a couple of months, we could go much deeper into the Old Testament; but as a summary - the Bible shows us the Spirit active in the world from the beginning; as a matter of fact let s go there for just a moment. Genesis 1:1-2 - In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. So this is a picture of expectation. Right out of the gate, God has created the Heavens and the earth - but there is no form, no purpose, no light over what He has created so far. But the Spirit of God is hovering -

4 And what Genesis describes over the subsequent verses is that God speaks, His word goes forth, and the creation expands and forms and life comes. And if we allow the NT to explain some of the Old Testament passages, we get that the WORD that went forth is a person. John 1:1 In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him. And then later in John 1:14, The word became flesh and dwelt among us. John is speaking of Jesus. So back to Genesis - We have God - progressively introduced in the OT as Father. We have the Spirit hovering over a formless, purposeless creation. And we have the Word, that John tells us is Jesus who is progressively shown as the Son of God. And you get to Genesis 1:26 and it says, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Who is us? God (revealed as Father), the Spirit (hovering), and the Word (revealed as the Son, Jesus). This is the beginning of a progressive revelation in scripture of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Not three Gods. For there is ONE God 1 Tim 2:5 is one of the MANY bible passages that teach us this. Not one God expressed in 3 ways. If you are interested that is called Modalism. That God is 1 person, and that he can express himself in 3 different ways - even simultaneously if he chooses. A form of this belief is still practiced today, most notably among those called Oneness Pentecostals. It is incumbent upon us to worship God as He is. His very nature. And he presents himself this way: 1 God in 3 distinct persons. All 3 personal, All 3 divine. We are told in Matthew 28 to make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of all 3 - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed to His Father, and submitted to His will; And when he was glorified He and His father sent the Spirit, the helper, to be with us. So scripture presents that our God, one God, exists in 3 co-equal, co-eternal persons; Then from Genesis throughout the rest of the OT we see the Spirit leading God s people at various times, inspiring and enabling THE prophets to speak and write God s word, giving extraordinary power to certain men of God like Joshua, Gideon, and Samson to do His work; enabling gifts to people - such as the gift of craftsmanship to certain individuals who were working on the Tabernacle. In the OT the Spirit is an expression of the presence of God (Psalm 139:7), and He unveiled for people the face of God (not just his attributes, but his very person) - Ezekiel 39:29. Which is now most clearly seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the active operation of the Spirit throughout the OT; but his personal effects were limited to certain people of God, at certain times.

5 But, in the OT it was constantly prophesied that a new day was coming; a day where that dynamic would change; where the Spirit would be an active operation, not just WITH some of God s people SOME of the time - but DWELLING IN ALL of God s people; Ezekiel 36:26 God promised of the New Covenant, I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And this new covenant would inaugurate with one man - the promised Messiah that all of the OT pointed to. Isaiah prophesied of Him: There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit (this means he would be from the lineage of David). And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him. Isaiah 11:1-2. And in the NT when we come to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. In the River Jordan Jesus comes to John the Baptizer - There He is publicly baptized - immersed in water; There, the Gospels tell us that the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove, and a voice came from Heaven saying, you are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased. There again, our picture of the Trinity. And John the Baptist testified that the spirit descended on Him like a dove and remained on him (John 1:33) So this was a picture of a divine anointing that Jesus was given - the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah. Luke tells us that Jesus, then full of the Holy Spirit, is driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, where he faces the same tempter of Adam; and in the power of the Spirit, Jesus overcomes. (Luke 4:1-13). He returns to Galilee, and goes to a synagogue in Nazareth - a house of public worship - And Jesus stands up to read a passage of scripture. He unrolls a Scroll of Isaiah, and he found this passage: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor. And then Jesus rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant of the service, sat down and said TODAY, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. (Luke 4:16-21). And then he begins his public ministry, and Luke says this ministry happens in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). So the ministry of Jesus, everything in the Gospels; ALL that Jesus did and said; his miracles and his works; all happened in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The companion if you will of Jesus - who has been with him for all of eternity; but as Jesus emptied himself - as Paul puts in in Philippians - to take the form of a servant, and be born in the likeness of man - the Spirit was with him to anoint him, and rest upon him for all his work. But here is what I want us to understand: the story doesn't end there. The plan of Jesus - according to John is to baptize those who believe with this same Holy Spirit (John 1:33). Think of that word. Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. Upon coming to faith in Christ, We are immersed, not just in physical water, but also immersed in the same spirit that rested upon Christ. This is why John said, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. He meant the Spirit would now be given in a unique way; a way never before

6 experienced in the history of the world; This SPIRIT - the one that hovered over the formless, purposeless creation in the beginning; the one who marked the presence and power of God in unique ways throughout the OT, the one who descended upon Christ, anointed him to overcome the tempter and do the work of God upon this earth, that same spirit Jesus gives to you who believe; to live in YOU; to bring form and purpose in your life; to anoint and empower you; to help you overcome. To allow you to see the Word, to agonize over it, yet fulfill it - not in your own power, but by the active energy and operation of the Spirit in you. No longer limited to certain people at certain times. Now for all believers, all the time. This is how Jesus could say, it is to your advantage that I go away, if I go, I will send you the helper (John 16:7). The same Spirit that had been with and in Him. 1 Cor 2:12 says that we are to receive not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God. Here I stand to ask you, Have you received him? Have you come to faith in Christ? Are you agonizing over the right things? Is it a big deal to you that God promises to give you this same Spirit? Do you ask for Him? Do you rest in Him? Are you relying on Him or yourself? Will you and I repent of our ignorance of the Spirit and ask God to send Him afresh to us today? Start next week at Jesus looked at His disciples in John 14:16-17