JOHN 7:37-39 JESUS STOOD AND CRIED OUT, SAYING, IF ANYONE THIRSTS, LET HIM COME TO ME AND DRINK

John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

 In this great section of Scripture we see Jesus get to the crux of the matter, without Him life is nothing, without Him, life is meaningless and useless.  But, when Christ’s Spirit Romans 8:9 (The Holy Spirit) comes to dwell in you because you have believed that Jesus died on the Cross, was buried and rose again the third day and have confessed that He is the Lord of your life, then life becomes full, it has meaning and purpose.  Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would enable those who trusted in Him for salvation to live the life God wants us to have, although not in the fullest sense of the word since that will only come when we go to Heaven. But we will have the fruit of the Spirit, an ability to live life to the fullest this side of Heaven, the ability to have joy, peace and live victoriously in spite of what life throws at us.  Jesus will satisfy your deepest longings; he will meet your deepest needs and make your life full and joyous.  Have you trusted Him, He is waiting to send that living water into your life if you will only ask Him for it.

Jesus Christ can quench the thirsty soul. That's only the beginning of what He does though. Verse 38 takes another dimension. He didn't just save us to fill us full of living water. No, no, verse 38, "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His heart shall flow rivers of living water." See, when you come to Jesus Christ initially, that's not the end, my friend, that is the beginning. Not only do we drink and have our own thirst quenched, but we become the supplier, would you believe it? The supplier of living water to the world. That's the real key to this. We are channeled for living water to reach the world. Out of our hearts should flow rivers, not one river and not a drip. Most of us can't even say, "Out of my heart drips living water." I think the reason that so many Christians stink spiritually is because they have become stagnant storage tanks instead of rivers of living water. And I always say most of us need a good dose of spiritual Drano because somewhere along the line the channel is clogged.

Once Jesus was with us as an incarnate man, and now he is in us by his Spirit. Listen to John 14:16–17: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even 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.”

And he is indeed in everyone who believes on Jesus. Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:9? “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” If you come to Christ to drink for your soul’s satisfaction, you get Christ. And now we see that he means: You get the Spirit—the Spirit of God and of Christ.

Isaiah 58:11: “You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.”

this is prophetic, it can't happen till Jesus ascends and the Spirit comes. And Jesus Himself said later on in John's gospel, "If I go not away, the Comforter cannot...what?...come." And so Jesus had to be glorified after His ministry, the Spirit came. That's what Jesus meant in Acts 1:8 when He said, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be My..what?...witnesses." You can't be that kind of a witness, that river doesn't flow apart from the Spirit of God.

V37 -Early each of the seven mornings of the feast the high priest would lead a procession from the Pool of Siloam to the temple. Another priest would first fill a golden container with water from the pool. He would then carry it through the Water Gate on the south side of the temple and into the temple courtyard. There he would ceremoniously pour the water into a silver basin on the west side of the brazen altar from which it would flow

through a tube to the base of the altar. Many Jews would accompany these priests. Some of them would drink from the pool while others would chant Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.

Joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." This was such a happy occasion that the Mishnah stated, "He that never has seen the joy of the Water-drawing has never in his life seen joy."301 The priest would then pour water into the basin at the time of the morning sacrifice. Another priest would also pour the daily drink offering of wine into another basin at the same time. Then they would pour the water and the wine out before the Lord. The pouring out of water represented God's provision of water in the wilderness in the past and His provision of refreshment and cleansing in the messianic age. The pouring out of wine symbolized God's bestowal of His Spirit in the last days. Every male present would simultaneously shake his little bundle of willow and myrtle twigs (his lulab) with his right hand and hold a piece of citrus fruit aloft with his left hand. The twigs represented stages of the wilderness journey marked by different kinds of vegetation, and the citrus fruit symbolized the fruit of the Promised Land.302  Everyone would also cry, "Give thanks to the Lord!" three times. Worshippers in the temple courtyard would then sing the Hallel (Ps. 113—118).303  This "water rite" had become a part of the Israelites' traditional celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. Essentially it symbolized the fertility and fruitfulness that the rain brought. In the Old Testament, God likened His blessings in the messianic kingdom to the falling of rain (Ezek. 47:1-7; Zech. 13:1). The Jews regarded God's provision of water in the wilderness and rain in the land as harbingers of His great blessings on the nation under Messiah's reign. Thus the water rite in the feast of Tabernacles had strong messianic connotations.

 We can see the strategy of the moment. It says in 37, "In the last day that great day of the feast." Timing is the key here. The whole dramatic ceremony became even more dramatic on the last day because the last day the whole group with all their boughs and branches was marching around the altar and they marched around it seven times...coming to a climax and then the water was poured. Why do you think they marched seven times? That's how many times Israel marched around the walls of Jericho. And so they were symbolically remembering Jericho, all a part of the wilderness wanderings. And then the water was poured out.

 Now He makes these claims in verses 37 to 39 reiterating in a different phraseology, with a different metaphor the same claims that He has made before. In effect, I'm God, I'm here, I came to redeem you, believe in Me, you can be redeemed. Reject Me, and you've...you've sentenced yourself for time and eternity. He reiterates the same claims again. And, in fact, He makes a great invitation to the whole city of Jerusalem here, and then we'll see how these four groups responded to Jesus Christ and His invitation.

On the last day that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and...and there we meet the word ek krazenagain...and cried out." He yelled at the top of His voice again. He did it one other time in anger. This time He does it in invitation. He stands in Jerusalem and at the top of His voice He yells, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink." Loud He yells, ek krazen, He cries out, piercing the air with His voice. Jesus is not, as I said, angry this time, He's yelling because He wants men to hear. This is a public invitation. Some people don't think you need to give a public invitation. Jesus did. Jesus did. And while He spent most of His time teaching privately, most of His time He was with the few people instructing them He did make public evangelism a part of His ministry. And here He announces that He is water for the thirsty soul.

You know, that's really not anything new because if you remember the story of John chapter 4, you remember the Samaritan woman and Jesus met her at the well and He said to her, "Well, your water's okay, but you're going to have to get some more when you get thirsty again. But the water that I give you, if you drink it you'll never thirst again." And He talked to her about living water, didn't He? And He was saying, in effect, I can quench the thirst of your soul. So the idea of Him being water for the thirsty soul is not new. He said that in John 4. He's also food in John 6 for the hungry heart.

 the first word is thirst, that's the idea of a recognized need, right? You're not going to come if you don't feel thirsty. And you want to know something else? Nobody needs to tell you when you're thirsty, do they? It's fairly obvious, right? Listen, when a man knows his soul is thirsty, he knows. There's a craving, there's a soul-thirst that's as real as body thirst. When a man longs for forgiveness, when he longs for hope, for love, for meaning, for peace, for liberty, for salvation, that's nothing more than spiritual thirst and Jesus says, "Here I am, come and drink." But it's got to start with a thirst. So Jesus said, "If you're thirsty," see. If you're not thirsty, sorry, you won't come. If you're thirsty.

 Second word, come. That signifies the action of the will. Move toward Christ. That's...that's...that's the same thing you do with your heart that you do with your feet. If Jesus was over there and said "Come here," and you walked over there. It's just taking yourself over to where Jesus Christ is. It's expressing the action of the will. It's moving toward Christ. It's beginning to turn your back on the world. It's beginning to abandon your self-confidence. It's the point of real thirst where you're ready to grab whatever you can.

   1. The gift of water, Salvation, the Holy Spirit is free –Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

He is the bread of life. He is the living water.

Re 21:6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

 Re 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.(NKJV)

    2. It is for Everyone - Isa 55:1 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.

 John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

   3. The Water (Spirit) is Abundant- Out of him will Pour Rivers - Isa 44:3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;

Ps 78:15 He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths.

When you come to Jesus to drink, you don’t just get a single drink, but you get spring, a fountain, a well. You get Jesus. Rivers of water will flow because a River-Maker is in you. That’s the point. You will never have to search again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the joy of your soul will flow from Jesus. When you come to him, you get him. And he never leaves

   4. It Satisfies our deepest longings - Ps 63:5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips

   5. The Soul hungers and thirsts for God – We are made to live on God – Eph 2:1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, Our souls were made for Jesus. The ache in our hearts is an ache for Jesus. This is how the soul lives. It lives on Jesus.

 Ps 42:1 To the Chief Musician. A Contemplation of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

 Ps 63:1 A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water.

   6. Jesus wants to satisfy our soul forever. Coming and drinking are what it means to believe on Jesus. Verses 37–38: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me . . .” That last phrase is another way of saying come and drink. Coming and drinking Jesus is what happens when we believe. It’s what believe means.

We saw it in the parallel structure of John 6:35: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Believing on Jesus is coming to him to eat and drink for our soul’s deepest satisfaction.

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