#4 (THE "INVITATION FROM GOD"
SERIES)
"COME AND DRINK!"
TEXT: Jn.
7:37-39; 4:5-26; 6:53-66; Isa. 44:3, 55:1; I Cor.
10:4
INTRO: Most of us
take water for granted, at least until we become thirsty! We don't usually think much about water
because we can turn a tap and have all the fresh water in the world. But you realize how important water is
when you get really thirsty and can't get a glass of water! Suddenly all you can think about is
water! Your whole body craves it,
every thought is about it, and your body aches for
it!
When one thinks of the
desert your brain gets pictures of barrenness. Yet, when a rain comes to the desert all
manner of life springs forth even if for just a short time, it can suddenly
become a great garden of life when its thirst has been met for a time! Jesus uses this image to make an
invitation to all people: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and
drink." (NIV)
PROP SENT: The Bible teaches
us that Jesus Christ will satisfy the thirsty soul, He is the water of life and He will give
Himself freely to all who are thirsty!
I. TERRIBLE DRYNESS Jn. 4:5-26; I Cor. 10:4; Isa. 44:3; 55:1
A. Desert!
Jn. 4:5-26; I Cor.
10:4
1. Here is a woman at a well, Jesus is
tired and thirsty and so asks her for a drink.
a. Of course she is shocked that He
would do so, she being a Samaritan and He being a Jew – Jews did not fraternize
with Samaritans normally, much less a female
one!
b. Jesus of course uses this
opportunity to talk to this woman who is living in sin about "living
water" that He can give her to satisfy her real
thirst!
c. Like most people she assumes He
meant water from this world, she would be happy not to have to come to this well
all the time!
d. She was only thinking about her
physical thirst while Jesus is trying to introduce her to a spiritual
thirst!
2. Once she realizes who Jesus is she
gladly partakes of this "living water," and sure enough her joy sends
her into the city shouting for people to come and get a drink of “living
water” themselves!
a. She had been living in the desert
for a long time, how wonderful to have her real thirst met – it had satisfied so
immediately that she dropped her bucket and left it at the well when she ran
into town to shout about this new “living water” found in Christ! John 4:28 “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went
back to the town and said to the people…” She had found a source of water greater
than physical water!
b. She was so filled that she
overflowed, a nice thing to do when in the desert! Once she spread the word quite a few
from the town came out and got a drink as well!
3. Remember Israel in the desert?
They had quite a few problems with
water and thirst, many times they got very thirsty ... and God faithfully sent
them water.
a. Paul mentioned this as a lesson for
us in 1 COR.
10:4.
b. Israel all ate the heavenly food
and drank the heavenly water that came from a rock, one that Paul says traveled
with them, and that rock he calls Christ.
c. Jewish legend says that a rock
traveled with Israel throughout the desert and supplied fresh water for them.
Paul may be referring to this
legend and the fact of that water he identifies as Christ -- the source of
living water!
d. Here Paul warns however that even
though they all partook of the same spiritual benefits they didn't all find the
promise land, this was a warning to believers today that we must be careful not
to just take those spiritual blessings for granted, to only drink once … we must
continue to drink this “living water”
daily!
4. Smart people build near
water!
ILLUS: IN IHE
EARLY DAYS OF SETTLING THE WEST THE EARLY SETTLERS ALWAYS BUILT ON RIVERS OR
NEAR WATER. ANY ONE WHO BUILT AWAY
FROM WATER WAS CONSIDERED A FOOL!
WATER MEANT LIFE ... IT STILL DOES! – SOURCE
UNKNOWN
B. Desire Isa. 44:3; 55:1
1. Dryness creates thirst, thirst is a
desire.
a. It is clear that many times God
allowed Israel’s spiritual dryness to take place to provoke a thirst for God
again!
b. One of the warnings God had given
Israel was about forsaking the covenant with God, if they did the heavens would
be shut up and would not give forth rain.
c. This was not just to inflict pain
for pain's sake on His people but to remind them of dryness in their soul! The physical was meant to remind them
of the spiritual!
d. It also showed them that material blessings
were only appreciated when they first had focused on spiritual
things!
2. Our craving for water can be much
greater than our craving for food, we cannot live as long without water as we
can without food!
a. To neglect God for even a short
time can create a thirsty soul.
b. Dryness destroys life quickly ...
look at the deserts, that’s how they became so barren – no water, no
life!
c. No Christ, no water of life for the
soul – just barrenness!
ILLUS: I HAVE SEEN
DOCUMENTARIES ON THE AFRICAN DESERTS.
THEY ARE FORBIDDING AND BARREN LANDSCAPES, THEY APPEAR DEVOID OF ANY LIFE
WHATSOEVER. VERY FEW ATTEMPT TO
LIVE IN THE DESERTS; IT IS NOT CONDUCIVE TO LIFE! AN INTERESTING THING HAPPENS HOWEVER
WHEN AN UNUSUAL RAIN STORM HITS, LITERALLY WITHIN HOURS THE AFRICAN DESERT COMES
ALIVE WITH A CARPET OF PLANT LIFE AND FLOWERS, REPTILES THAT HAVEN'T BEEN SEEN
FOR YEARS ESCAPE FROM THE GROUND WHERE THEY HAVE HID IN A STATE OF HIBERNATION,
IT CAN LOOK LIKE THE GARDEN OF EDEN FOR A WEEK OR SO UNTIL THE LACK OF WATER
AGAIN RETURNS THE AREA TO DEVASTATION AND LACK OF LIFE AGAIN. IT ONLY TAKES A LITTLE WATER TO
TRANSFORM THE WHOLE AREA FROM DEATH TO LIFE! HOW MUCH MORE WILL CHRIST AS THE LIVING
WATER TRANSFORM THE SOUL THAT IS THIRSTY! – SOURCE
UNKNOWN
3. Here in Isa. 44:3 God says He will pour water upon him that is thirsty
and floods upon dry ground!
4. He again offers this invitation in
Isa. 55:1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the
waters ...”
5. To receive, one just has to be
thirsty -- this is desire! The well
is never dry for those who come to God!
II. TIME TO DRINK Jn. 6:53-66; 7:37-39
A. Discipleship 6:53-66
1. Jesus explains to the crowd that in
order for them to know life in Him they would have to “eat His flesh
and drink his blood!”
a. They could hardly believe their
ears! Jesus seemed to be talking
about cannibalism!
b. The idea of eating His flesh and
drinking his blood seemed crazy, but of course Jesus wasn't talking about
actually eating His flesh and literally drinking His blood, He was talking about
His sacrifice on the cross and accepting it.
c. This is the whole concept of
communion today, the bread represents His broken body, and the blood represents
the new life we have in Him through His shed blood on
Calvary!
d. Jesus makes the offer in no
uncertain terms, there can be no life for them if they don't eat and drink Him –
if they don’t receive Him and their supply!
2. This was a tough call, and indeed
in verse 66 it states that after Jesus
explained the meaning of this call many lost interest in Him, "after this hard
saying, many of his disciples no longer followed
him!"
a. They were not that hungry or that
thirsty!
b. And so they turned away from the
only source of life they could have known!
c. They decided to settle for physical
bread and water rather than satisfy their soul’s spiritual hunger and
thirst!
3. Their thirst was not great enough
and so they remained barren and dead!
ILLUS: SEVERAL
YEARS AGO WHEN A GREAT EARTHQUAKE HIT SOVIET ARMENIA 55,000 VICTIMS MADE UP ONE
OF THE WORST EARTHQUAKES IN THE HISTORY OF THAT PART OF THE WORLD. IN ONE COLLAPSED BUILDING A WOMAN NAMED
SUSANNA PETROYSAN WAS BURIED ALIVE, HER YOUNG DAUGHTER WAS ALSO STILL ALIVE BUT
TRAPPED NEAR HER. SHE HEARD HER
DAUGHTER'S PLEAS AS TIME WENT BY; "MOMMY, I'M SO THIRSTY ... I WANT A DRINK" BUT
THERE WAS NOTHING SHE COULD DO AS THEY WERE TRAPPED BENEARTH TONS OF STEEL AND
CONCRETE. THE BODY OF HER SISTER IN
LAW LAY NEAR BY ALSO. THEY HAD GONE
TO VISIT HER TO TRY ON DRESSES ON DECEMBER 7, 1988 WHEN THIS QUAKE HIT! AGAIN SHE HEARD HER DAUGHTER PLEAD,
"MOMMY I NEED A DRINK, PLEASE GIVE ME SOMETHING!" THERE WAS NOTHING TO GIVE HER HOWEVER,
SHE DIDN'T KNOW HOW LONG THEY HAD BEEN UNCONSCIOUS, OR HOW LONG BEFORE RESCUE
CREWS MIGHT FIND THEM, BUT THERE WAS NOTHING TO GIVE HER THIRSTY DAUGHTER. SHE WAS TRAPPED FLAT ON HER BACK AS WAS
HER DAUGHTER. THERE WAS BUT 18
INCHES OF SPACE ABOVE HER. FEELING
AROUND IN THE DARKNESS SHE FOUND A JAR OF BLACKBERRY JAM, AND SO GAVE THE ENTIRE
CONTENTS TO HER DAUGHTER TO SATISFY HER HUNGER AND THIRST. IT TOO WAS GONE BY THE SECOND DAY
HOWEVER. AGAIN THE PLEAS CAME FROM
HER DAUGHTER FOR SOMETHING TO DRINK, SHE WAS SO THIRSTY! SHE KNEW HER DAUGHTER WOULD DIE OF
THIRST BEFORE SHE WOULD IF SHE DIDN'T GET SOMETHING TO DRINK SOON. SHE FOUND SOME CLOTHE AROUND HER AND
WRAPPED HER DAUGHTER THE BEST SHE COULD TO PREVENT DEHYDRATION, THEY WERE
WRAPPED FOR 8 DAYS. AS TIME WENT,
SHE BEGAN TO HALLUCINATE, AND SHE WAS WAITING FOR DEATH, BUT SHE WANTED HER
DAUGHTER TO LIVE ... EACH TIME SHE STARTED TO DRIFT OFF SHE WOULD HEAR HER
DAUGHTER CRY AGAIN, "MOMMY, I'M SO THIRSTY, PLEASE GIVE ME SOEMTHING TO
DRINK!" SUDDENLY SUSANNA REMEMBERED
A TELEVISION PROGRAM SHE HAD WATCHED ABOUT SOME EXPLORER'S IN THE ARTIC WHO WERE
DYING OF THIRST. THE ONE COMRADE
HAD SLASHED HIS HAND OPENED AND GAVE HIS FRIEND HIS BLOOD TO DRINK! IT HAD SAVED HIS LIFE. WITHOUT WATER, NO FRUIT JUICE, NO
LIQUIDS, IT WAS THEN SHE DECIDED TO GIVE HER DAUGHTER HER OWN BLOOD. GROPING AROUND IN THE DARK SHE FOUND A
PIECE OF SHATTERED GLASS, SHE SLICED OPEN HER LEFT INDEX FINGER AND GAVE IT TO
HER DAUGHTER TO SUCK ON. THE LITTLE
GIRL BEGAN TO REVIVE, AND SHE CRIED OUT, “PLEASE MOMMY, SOME MORE, CUT ANOTHER
FINGER.” SHE DOESN'T REMEMBER HOW
MANY TIMES SHE CUT HERSELF; SHE ONLY KNOWS THAT IF SHE HADN'T HER DAUGHTER WOULD
NOT HAVE LIVED! HER BLOOD WAS HER
DAUGHTER'S ONLY HOPE ... AND IT BROUGHT LIFE! HOW MUCH MORE DOES THE BLOOD OF JESUS
BRING LIFE TO THOSE WHO CRY OUT IN THIRST FOR A SPIRITAUL DRINK!? -- SOURCE
UNKNOWN
4. It would be rare indeed to find a
disciple that has absolutely no thirst for God!
a. They might be a disciple when
things are good but as soon as things get tough or commitment is called for they
drift aside however if their thirst is not strong
enough!
b. Only the really thirsty keep
seeking for something to drink!
5. This call by Jesus to be committed,
to be so thirsty for Him that all else is nothing in comparison was too tough
for some to hear ... and so they left following Jesus. How about you? How thirsty are you really? When the call for real commitment comes,
do you run?
B. Deluge! Jn.
7:37-39
1. This was the last day of the feast of Tabernacles,
celebrating the time Israel lived in the
desert.
a. Traditionally, on the last day water from the pool of
Siloam was offered up as part of the closing ceremonies. It is here and likely at this moment
that Jesus stood and made an offer to satisfy a thirst with living water that is
better than water from the pool of
Siloam!
b. The waters from Siloam were the
waters people bathed in for healing, they were waters thought to have special
properties ... BUT Jesus offers them better water – living healing water,
HIM!
c. Jesus stands and makes His offer,
"if anyone is
thirsty, let him come to me and
drink."
2. If they thought these few vessels
of water from the pool of Siloam could be helpful they hadn't seen the flood of
water from Jesus that can meet all their needs!
a. Jesus then adds, "Whoever believes
in me as the Scripture has said, ‘streams of living water will flow from within
him!’"
b. Jesus offers more than a trickle!
He offers a
flood!
3. Jesus is promising here that for
those who are thirsty they not only will be refreshed they will be overflowing
with streams of living water.
a. This is a promise of the Holy
Spirit that was to come through Christ's death and resurrection, no longer would
the soul of man need to be thirsty!
b. Jesus would open the floodgates of
heaven and pour out His Spirit to those who
asked!
4. Have you taken the plunge! Are you thirsty? He will satisfy! “COME AND
DRINK!”
CONCLUSION:
Thirst is a powerful
drive! Physical thirst can not
match however the powerful thirst of the soul! We are born thirsty, and while we have
many different sources to "drink" from there is only one that satisfies the
heart, the living waters of Jesus! The invitation by Christ still stands
today, “If anyone is thirsty,
let him come to me and drink.”
Even in the desert you can have a full supply! Has your thirst been
met?