The Jesus Series: RELY, Part 2 Sunday, October 21, 2018 John 7:37-39 We are continuing a journey through the Gospel of John, the Jesus series, and as I mentioned last week, we are taking a bit of a side trail as I want to get us to a place of thinking about the person and the function of the Holy Spirit. Last week we began laying a foundation around the topic of RELIANCE, as I want us to ponder Our great need so that we can appreciate God s great provision. Life Question: My help comes from? And I challenged us to ponder this. What do we RELY on or REST upon in this often trouble filled life? Now, we talked about how for many people, the idea of needing help is not a foregone conclusion. We have this nature that finds it really difficult to admit weakness. But still I believe that ultimately we all do, to some degree or another, RELY on something outside of ourselves to bring satisfaction, meaning, and help to this life. One way that we can think through this and determine what we are RELIANT on, is to track our passions. Consider What do I diligently pursue and passionately defend? The degree to which we pursue or defend something, shows the level of importance we have assigned to it. If we are RELIANT on something for satisfaction, meaning, and help - it will show by our actions. I can give us a few examples, really to just get us thinking; some of these you may relate to or some you may find quite silly; because we do not always rely on the same things. Money might be universal. If you are RELIANT on your checking account for satisfaction, or meaning, or perhaps to give life security - you might diligently pursue that which will build it up; and you might passionately defend your account against enemies such as spending; or generosity. I believe many in this country right now are RELIANT on POLITICS, or more pointedly certain political parties, to grant them security and meaning. This is why we are so divided. The idea is that if THIS particular political party and ideology is in power - life is going to be ok. If THIS particular party or ideology is in power - RUN for the hills; find a cave, put a stone up, and come out in a few years. We FIGHT against people we may not even know, because they represent a threat to that which we have come to RELY on. It could be a hobby we over pursue at great expense; a sports team whose victories raise or lower our emotional well being with the outcome of the game; Trace your passions - we pursue at great expense and defend against any threat - that which we are truly reliant on. With this truth as our backdrop let s look again at John 7:37-39. 37 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. As we have seen previously in John, Jesus is using a physical reality that everyone can understand, to teach a deeper spiritual reality that people might miss. Everyone understands the concept of thirst. Physically we get thirsty, so we pursue that which can satisfy our need, and quench the thirst. So we all get that. What we might not as quickly grasp is that we are far more than physical beings. We have a spirit and a soul; our inner person is the personality center from which our mind, our will, and our emotions operate. The inner self is mentioned frequently in scripture, especially by the Apostle Paul. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians to be sanctified completely, and that their whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless by God. 1 Thess 5:23 Likewise Paul prayed for the Ephesians that God would strengthen them with power, in their inner being. Ephesians 3:16 So the inner being of a person is every bit as real as the outer being. One is physical and one is spiritual. Both have needs. Our inner-person also thirsts, and also pursues satisfaction. So Jesus poses 2 questions to the crowd in John 7: Do you realize that your inner-person is in desperate need of refreshment? He cries out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. This doesn t mean that some people thirst in their inner-being and others do not. Rather, Jesus is crying out to those who are willing and able to hear. If you realize that your soul is thirsty - listen to me. If you have been searching for that which will satisfy the longing that is in you - listen to me. Can you, will you realize that you are desperately needy. Thirst is a nuisance for a while, but long term it becomes a life threatening condition. This goes directly to the heart of the first obstacle we have discussed: Can we even admit we need help? Do you realize your soul is in desperate need of refreshment? Do you believe that I am able to meet your need and satisfy your longing? Jesus says, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me. We come to Christ in belief that HE can and HE will provide for us. This gets to the heart of the second obstacle. We admit we need help - now where does our help come from? Our spirit, our inner person thirsts. So we continually seek satisfaction to quench those longings. But where from? What do we RELY on? What do we diligently pursue and passionately defend? It matters what you take in physically to quench your thirst, and it matters what you take in spiritually to quench your thirst.
If you were stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean, and you were suffering from the worst thirst that you had ever experienced - and you were on the verge of dehydration; IF you gave in and drank the saltwater around you - you would actually cause yourself to be thirstier than before and you would die quicker. By drinking seawater - because of its salt content that the body has to get rid of quickly - you are actually dehydrating yourself. Spiritually, what may seem needed and helpful at the time - can actually destroy your soul. Jesus does not stand up to present himself as A option. He presents himself as THE option; the only adequate source for the thirsty soul. Do you believe that? Will you come to him in belief? American author and pastor AW Tozer addressed both of the obstacles we have talked about today when he said, The strength of our flesh is an ever present danger to our souls. The superior Christian lets God strip him of everything that might serve as a false refuge, a secondary trust. These same two obstacles were in view in the OT when God rebuked his people for 2 evils they had committed: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves - cracked cisterns that cannot hold water- Jeremiah 2:13. In Palestine the best water source was flowing springs; the worse source was run-off water that was collected in a cistern, a pit dug into the rock. What then are the 2 evils? One - they were RELYING on themselves (digging cisterns to collect water to quench their thirst) and TWO - They abandoned the best water, turning instead to inferior sources. And in the end, their strength would fail, and the water they tried to collect would not satisfy. Jesus is asking today, the same of us that HE asked of the crowd. Do you realize the desperate need of your inner-being? Do you believe that HE ALONE is the best supply, able to meet your need and satisfy your longing? THIS IS the call to salvation. It is not a call to believe facts; It is not a call to make a decision in your own power to conform to some religious rule book; It is a call to come and drink to your soul s satisfaction. You spiritually long, and the world says come and be sustained by some mere external source of satisfaction: Find wealth, find entertainment, find a relationship, find a drug, find recreation, find notoriety - find it and use it. Over and over, in increasing measure. But what you discover is that eventually, like drinking salt-water, it only weakens you; it endangers you, it lets you down. Jesus promises something so different. That the very source of your satisfaction will abide in you. Not merely will HE be with you (He will); Not merely will he satisfy you externally with good gifts (He will). But that He will place the SOURCE of your SATISFACTION in your inner-person. The fountain of living water will be found in you. Jesus says in v 38 as the Scripture has said, Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This is probably not a direct quote of the OT, but rather a summary of many passages:
Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. How will God guide you and satisfy your desires? He will make your like a spring of water; a source that will never fail. Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. And this spring, this source, the Rivers of Living Water waters are pictures of the inward work of God in a believer, to come in the new Covenant, through the gift of His Holy Spirit abiding in us. This is the interpretation that John gives us in 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. Within approx 6 months of this event, Jesus Christ would sacrifice himself on a Roman cross and suffer the wrath of God against sin, the disobedience of man. Jesus, blameless and righteous, would suffer the fate due all who sin - death. But on the 3rd day He would rise from the death, demonstrating His power over sin and its consequence. And anyone who comes to Him will receive the same - eternal life in their spirit, soul, and even one day their physical body. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day John 6:40. So the picture, if you can realize your need - the thirst and longings of your soul - come to Christ and drink. Believe He can and will satisfy you, this is the essence of salvation. And He promises that IN you will be the very source of your satisfaction; The best source, the living water, will flow IN and FROM you. That living water is the Holy Spirit of God, who will dwell with and in you forever. Jesus introduces us to the Holy Spirit further later in John. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever, [He is] the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:16-17 I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. John 16:7 So this is our beginning. The next week or so we are going to look intently at the person and work of the Holy Spirit. But as a preview, I want us to consider a few items here from the introduction of Jesus. First, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit another helper. In the Greek this phrase is allos parakletos. Allos means another of the same kind. And Parakletos means One who is sent to assist. Jesus is teaching us, and comforting his disciples, that the Holy Spirit is one who is just like HIM. Another of the same kind. Therefore as Jesus is Divine, and one with the Father - The Spirit is also Divine, and one with the Father and therefore one with the Son. He is referred to in
scripture as the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. As a matter of fact, He is sent to us as believers by both, the Father and the Son. Jesus said in John 14 that the Father would give us another helper; and Jesus said in John 16 that HE would send us the helper. And He comes Jesus says, as our helper - one who will assist us. He is sent that we might RELY on Him as we have been speaking about foundationally last week and today. So let s pause there for a moment. Do you and I ever consider the significance, of having another helper, one who is just like Jesus, with us to RELY on in this life? If we could, would we not say that having the physical presence of Jesus with us everyday, speaking to us, guiding us, advocating for us, empowering us - would be of immense benefit? Now - do you believe that the physical presence of Jesus would be better than the literal presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? Because Jesus said it would not be. Jesus said it is to our advantage that He go - so that He could send the one just like Him to be with us. And not just to be with us - but to dwell in us forever. He will give you another helper to be with you forever, He dwells with you and will be in you. The ministry of the Spirit is both permanent and personal. If you recognized the longing of your soul and come to Christ to drink, He and His Father will send to you the person of the Holy Spirit - a HE not an IT. He is not a force. He is a divine person, one with the Father and the Son, who is just like Christ, and He will come and be with you, dwell in you, and NEVER leave you. Are we aware of His presence? Are we reliant on Him? Are we expectantly looking for His work when we ask for His help? Notice one last thing in John 14, [He is] the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. If the world cannot receive Him, yet He dwells in us - then should not our lives stand out remarkable different from the world? Ponder that this week. (Quote from Francis Chan). Agape, let this be the beginning of our journey: Be aware of His presence. RELY on Him. Ask for His help and Expect to see His work.