WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:04.080 Hello and welcome to the Redemption Church Podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:12.560 We're a church in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada that exists to glorify God through the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the spirit of the Great Commandment. 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:14.560 Thanks for joining us today. 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:15.519 Amen. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:17.039 Let's pray together. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:21.760 Father, we are here because of your name. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:29.519 God, because of its beauty, because of its worthiness, because of its power, God, all these words that we just sang. 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:31.920 Lord, we believe. 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:40.719 And God, we're so eager this morning to experience each of those things, Lord, trusting that as our voices fade, your voice will not, Lord. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:45.840 As your word is opened, God, you have a word for us here. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:56.719 And so, God, I pray for our hearts right now in this room, as we open up your word, God, would you find hearts that are bowed down before you in awe of your great name? 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:03.759 In awe of the truth that your name can never be rivaled by any enemy, by any sweetness. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.879 Lord, there is nothing that compares to the value of your name. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:10.400 And so, God, would our hearts continue to worship you? 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:17.280 God, as we gaze at the glory of your Son, God help us. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:18.560 We need your spirit, Lord. 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.840 We need it so desperately. 00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:21.519 We're so dependent on you. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.760 Lord, we know that your power, your grace is sufficient for our weakness. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:32.719 So we submit ourselves to you, God, asking that you'd work mightily in our midst. 00:01:33.359 --> 00:01:35.200 God, we pray this in the name of your Son. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:36.159 Amen. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:37.200 Amen. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:44.560 You guys can grab your seats, and as you grab your seats, you can take your copy of God's Word and open it up to John chapter 7. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:50.000 We're continuing in our series this morning called Gospel Driven. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:02:03.120 And the point of this series has really been to show that there is really no category of in Scripture for someone who's saved by the gospel but not gripped and then driven by the gospel. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:24.000 When the gospel saves us, it changes and transforms our life in such a way that the New Testament, really all the scriptures, as they talk about the new life that we have in Christ, as the language is used about our new identity in Christ, it really describes a life that is thriving in Christ. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:31.759 The picture that we get is the whole Christian life by the gospel has been renewed. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:38.400 So that now the picture of the Christian's life is a life of thriving and growth. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:54.479 Think of Romans 8, where Paul speaks in pretty categorical terms to say that the Christian identity, as one who now faces no condemnation, is an identity of one who's putting to death the deeds of the body. 00:02:56.719 --> 00:03:03.360 He just says, if you're in Christ, you're putting to death the deeds of the body, and now the spirit of life is working in you and bringing about this life. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:04.800 It's just something that happens. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:16.479 Think about John's words in chapter 4, as he quotes Jesus, who tells the woman at the well that she can drink of a water in which, if she drinks of it, she'll never thirst again. 00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:19.840 Her spiritual thirst will be eternally quenched. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:33.039 Think of Paul's words in Galatians chapter 5, in the fruits of the Spirit, and how the Christian is to be abounding and thriving in the fruits of joy and peace and patience and so on. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:36.400 This is the call of a Christian life, is really to thrive. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:50.800 But as we even look at a short list of the Bible's description of the Christians thriving who's been gripped by the gospel, what we come to realize, and maybe you're even feeling this right now, is that often our experience feels different than what the Bible describes? 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:56.879 I wonder if you ever asked this question, how come my life in Christ doesn't feel like it's thriving? 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:05.039 If the intention of the gospel is to save us and to drive us to Christ, how come we don't always experience that drive? 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:08.879 How can we still struggle with sin so pervasively? 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:13.439 How come our days aren't filled with the peace that is a promised fruit of the Holy Spirit? 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:17.120 Instead, they're often filled with anxiety and worry. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:27.199 How can we still feel the need for satisfaction having drunk of the thirst-quenching water, living water of Jesus Christ? 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:36.079 What I want you to see this morning is that the intention, in fact, the invitation of Christ to you is to thrive in Him. 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:45.519 When the gospel takes a hold of your life, when the gospel grips your life, drives you towards gospel-driven thriving. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:47.600 This is your identity in him. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:05:02.399 Now in Christ, you have all the resources that you need to experience abundant joy, to experience abounding peace, and to experience overwhelming and unending fulfillment and satisfaction. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.079 This is yours in the gospel. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:13.519 And what Jesus wants to do through his word this morning, as we read his words in John chapter 7, is invite us to this gospel-driven, thriving. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:16.160 Our church, don't miss this. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.839 There's such good news for us here this morning. 00:05:21.279 --> 00:05:31.920 If it's your desire to experience more and more the freedom that has been bought for you by Jesus Christ, don't miss Christ's words to you this morning. 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:34.399 Don't miss his invitation to you. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:36.800 See, this is the reality. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:43.600 Jesus delights in the freedom that he won for us being felt by his children. 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:44.720 Do you know that? 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:48.160 It's easy to say, but at times it's hard to believe. 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:57.600 But our Lord Jesus Christ does not delight in you not experiencing the freedom that has been won for you in the gospel. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:07.600 And Jesus' invitation to us this morning is to experience the gospel-driven thriving that is natural to the gospel. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:10.959 And so we need the Spirit's help this morning. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:12.000 Help us to hear the call. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:13.519 How many times have we heard this call? 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.360 How many times has this call been fallen? 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:17.360 Fallen on deaf ears. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:26.800 John 7, it's interesting, it wasn't planned like this, but contextually it comes right after the chapter in John that Dave Grant preached on two weeks ago. 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:30.240 He preached from John chapter 6 of John feeding the 5,000. 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:46.319 And you'll notice that at the beginning of John 7, which really provides context for the verses that we'll be studying this morning in verses 37 to 39, Jesus finds himself almost being bothered by those who were with him. 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:48.959 John calls him his brothers. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:53.600 And in verse 2 it says, Now the Jews' feast of booths was at hand. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:07:01.600 So his brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples all may see the works you are doing. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.360 And Jesus was invited to go and attend this yearly feast. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:07.759 It was one of the three great feasts in Israel. 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:09.199 It was the feast of booths. 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:22.240 And yet at this point in time, Jesus was a wanted man, so he understood to walk into the feast of booths, to walk in such a public manner, would mean that he would be surely arrested. 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:31.600 Now the feast of booths was a yearly feast that the people of Israel were to celebrate, really to celebrate the provision that God had given to Israel in the desert. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:41.759 When God delivered Israel from Egypt, they were in the desert, they lived in booths, and all of their hunger, all of their thirst was satisfied by God. 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:43.920 You remember the manna falling from heaven? 00:07:44.160 --> 00:07:46.800 You remember the water coming from the rock? 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:55.360 And God set up this yearly feast to remind them of the time that God provided for them in the desert. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:57.120 It was an immense celebration. 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:06.160 It was something that the Jewish people looked forward to because they would celebrate God's provision in the past and the provision for their current time. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:17.199 But not only would they look back, not only would they look to their present time, they'd also look to the future, so that Zechariah in his prophecy associates this feast with a petition to God for adequate rainfall. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:18.879 So understand the context here. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:27.040 Going to the feast of Booth was remembering all the ways that God had provided and caused the people of God to thrive throughout their history. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:34.720 It was to go there and celebrate that, to be reminded of that truth of who God is, that God is a God who provides for his people. 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:39.519 That as the people of God have been with the presence of God, they've been a thriving people. 00:08:39.600 --> 00:08:52.559 And so they go to this feast year in and year out, and for seven days they celebrate the feast and they look forward, asking God to give them a year of rainfall, a year of crop growth in which they could thrive all the more. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:52.960 John chapter 7, verse 37, says on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:00.879 And this feast would be one to remember because Jesus is calling Israel to a deeper thriving. 00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:08.399 Jesus is showing Israel a deeper meaning in this feast that they look so forward to celebrating. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:11.759 And this morning I want you to see that God's doing the same for us. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:13.919 He has you here for a purpose. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:20.639 It's not by accident that you're in your seat this morning, sitting before his word with this specific message. 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:22.879 Jesus has a word for you. 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.559 And what he invites you to this morning is infinitely meaningful. 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:28.879 It's gospel-driven thriving. 00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:34.480 And so I want you to see in John chapter 7 how the gospel really invites us to thrive. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:41.200 And the first thing I want you to see is that Christ is inviting us this morning to thrive by consuming living water. 00:10:41.440 --> 00:10:46.559 That if you want to be a thriving Christian, the first thing that you must do is consume living water. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:50.799 Now the whole of chapter 7 really takes place at the Feast of Booths. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:58.799 And at the beginning of chapter 7, Jesus is kind of being bothered by those who are with him to attend the feast. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:02.559 But what we find at the beginning of chapter 7 is that Jesus doesn't attend. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.120 You remember that Jesus was at this point a wanted man. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:12.240 And so to walk to the feast of booths was essentially the same as being a criminal and walking into the police station and saying, Here, you can handcuff me. 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.679 And so Jesus speaks to those who are telling him to come and says to them, My time has not yet come. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:26.559 He points to a time where it will be time for him to be arrested, it will be time for him to be killed at the hands of lawless men, but this is not the time. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:29.759 And so those who are with Jesus go forward without him. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:32.159 And at first Jesus doesn't attend. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:38.000 But in verse 10, we're told that after his brothers went up, Jesus sort of sneaked up. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:43.519 He went up privately and started to watch what was happening at the Feast of Booths from a distance. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:54.559 And while it was happening, he even went to the temple and began to teach in the temple as the parade made its way through the city towards the temple. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:12:00.000 In verse 37, John brings us to the last day of the feast. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.919 And so notice it's on the last day that Jesus stands up. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:06.480 On the last day, Jesus attends the feast. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:09.039 On the last day, Jesus cries out. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.200 On the last day, Jesus makes himself known. 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:13.279 And what Jesus does, this is really significant. 00:12:13.360 --> 00:12:14.399 I don't want you to miss this. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:17.039 Jesus doesn't stand up and condemn the feast. 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:22.159 What Jesus does is he stands up and enlightens Israel on the true meaning of the feast. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:25.200 That's why he waits till the last day. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.240 John tells us exactly why, right here, because he says it's the great day. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.919 This would be the day where the water finally made it to the temple, and everyone started playing instruments. 00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:35.279 They started singing psalms. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:38.639 They started celebrating God's goodness, God's deliverance. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:47.360 They started dancing at the temple and they would fill a bowl with water, they'd fill a bowl with wine, and they would pour it over the sacrifice. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:52.480 It would be the climax of the parade, it would be the ending of the parade. 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:57.279 And on this last day, Jesus stands up and gives them a greater reason to celebrate. 00:12:57.440 --> 00:12:58.080 He says these words. 00:12:58.240 --> 00:12:59.360 You see them in verse 37? 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:06.559 He says, If anyone thirsts, you hear this in the context of the boost of the feast of booths. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:11.440 If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:24.159 There's so much significance packed into these words, but I don't want you to miss this important point. 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.799 Jesus doesn't condemn the festival. 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:31.759 Jesus shows us the true meaning of the festival. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.480 Festival is a pretty interesting thing. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:36.879 A yearly feast is a pretty interesting thing, isn't it? 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:46.399 Like if I showed up to your house one day and helped you build a shed, and then after building that shed, I said, hey, every year on this day, I want you to have a feast to remember this shed I built you. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.399 Well, you'd probably say, that's kind of really weird to do that, to celebrate that. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:14:01.360 But another thing you'd realize is that I think it's pretty important, at least I think it, you probably don't think the same, but at least I think it's pretty important that you remember this beautiful shed that I labored over to build for you. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:13.120 And what Jesus, or what God does for the people of Israel in this establishing this yearly feast, is set up a time for them to remember his provision. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:22.639 And what God is teaching us this morning is that one of our greatest needs when it comes to thriving in Christ is simply to remember. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:30.080 Our sin condition is a condition of spiritual amnesia. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:32.240 That's our sinful condition. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:39.519 It clouds our thinking so that when we need to remember spiritual truth, we forget spiritual truth. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:45.200 This is why we're so prone to wander as God's people, because we're prone really to forget God's goodness. 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:51.919 This is why the psalmist says in Psalm 103, it says these words, bless the Lord and forget not his benefits. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:15:00.799 Because the psalmist has this understanding that our problem as sinners is that we forget the truth that God has already implanted in us. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:04.559 See, our problem is not really that we don't know enough. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:12.559 Our problem is that the truth that is in our hearts and in our mind, the problem is that we don't often access it when we really need to. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:19.120 I don't know about you, but my wife can attest to this truth, and I'm thankful she's not here this morning to attest to this truth. 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:20.960 But I'm a very forgetful person. 00:15:21.200 --> 00:15:29.440 In fact, one of the it's pretty much a daily problem in my life that I forget the trinity of going outside of the house effectiveness, the tools you need. 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:31.200 You know what the trinity of tools you need is? 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.759 It's your phone, at least for a man, your phone, your wallet, and your keys. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:39.759 And I'm sure that if you have any ounce of wisdom, you have kind of a system. 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:50.159 When you walk into your house, you put your at least your wallet and your keys in the same spot, and you keep your phone on you, maybe, or you put it in the same spot so that when you need to find it, you can find it. 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.440 Well, I don't have that system. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:58.960 I walk into my house and I keep walking, and I take my wallet and I throw it in one place, and I take my phone and I throw it in another place, and I take my keys and I throw it in another place. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:00.159 It's never the same place. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:04.480 There's probably about 10 places that there usually are, but it's never the same place. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:09.039 So that when I have to leave, all of a sudden I don't have the things that I need to leave. 00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:16.000 And it's this huge scramble to find all these things that I need in order to be effective in leaving the house. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:18.320 See, I have these things. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.960 The problem is that when I really need them, they're nowhere to be found. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:23.519 And you need to know that your spiritual problem is the same. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:27.120 Not likely not that you don't have the truth you need. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:32.960 You likely have all the truth you need to thrive. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:38.080 In fact, I'm reminded of a story so similar to this of John with the woman at the well in John 4. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:38.879 You know what happens? 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:45.759 John tells this woman one thing that if you drink of me, you'll have water that will cause you to never thirst again. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:48.399 That's the only thing the woman at the well knows. 00:16:48.960 --> 00:16:58.639 She doesn't know biblical theology, she doesn't know systematic theology, she doesn't know church history, she doesn't have the Christian ease downloaded into her mind. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:03.519 The only thing she knows is that there is water that will quench her thirst eternally. 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:04.480 You know what she does? 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:07.119 She goes to the town, talk about gospel-driven. 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:15.839 This truth is implanted in her, it consumes her, and she can do nothing but go to the town and tell everyone about this living water and say, You gotta come drink of this. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:20.640 You don't need much truth to effect change in your life. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:26.000 The issue is that so often we forget what we already know, and in our greatest time of need, we can't find it. 00:17:26.160 --> 00:17:33.359 And one of the greatest blessings of my ministry over the years has been the countless people I've been able to sit down with and provide biblical counsel to. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:42.559 And in the process of biblical counseling, one of the things that I keep coming back to is to remind these people that they already know the truth that they need to know. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:45.039 They just need to apply to their situation. 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:56.319 See, in suffering, as many of us are suffering poorly, most of the time we don't just need to be told, hey, God's in control of your situation. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.319 You already know that truth. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.119 That truth is easy to download on good days. 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:14.160 The problem is that in the bad days, when nothing's going your way, when everything seems like it's falling apart, where the suffering seems too great of a weight to bear, the problem is that on those days, you don't remember that our God is a God that is in control. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.680 This is our spiritual amnesia, we forget. 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:29.359 See the truth that you need to get you through life's hardest moments, through sin's deepest entanglements. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:30.960 It's likely already known. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:34.880 In fact, if you just hear these words right now, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:39.519 You know everything that you need to thrive as a Christian. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:46.640 Likely scenario is that you just haven't applied this deeply enough into your life and into your heart. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:49.119 See, this is so true of us. 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:52.640 When we struggle, here are some examples of ways that affects our life. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.640 When you struggle to get into God's word, you know why you struggle to get into God's word? 00:18:56.799 --> 00:18:58.799 It's not because your alarm didn't go off. 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:00.960 It's not because your life is too busy. 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:06.160 If you struggle to get into God's word, you've forgotten the truth that God's word is a lamp to your feet. 00:19:06.319 --> 00:19:09.759 That you walk in darkness if you don't walk in God's light. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:16.240 When we respond to someone with anger, we forget that the anger of man can't produce the righteousness of God. 00:19:16.480 --> 00:19:22.400 When we walk around with pride, we forget that the prideful fall and the humble will be exalted. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:32.240 When we live lives that are filled with anxiety, we've forgotten God's truth, that He is wise, He's loving, and that He's able. 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:35.680 See, the reason we don't thrive is because we forget. 00:19:35.839 --> 00:19:39.920 This is why one of the constant commands of Scripture is to meditate on God's truth. 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:41.200 You know what meditating is? 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:43.200 It's not learning anything new. 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:46.960 Meditating is being reminded of what's already there. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:50.160 So that in Psalm 1, the psalmist says, Blessed is the man. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:55.440 That means happy is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates. 00:19:55.599 --> 00:19:57.519 And you know how often he is to meditate? 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.440 It's not once a week. 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:05.279 Psalmist says if you want to live for God, it's not once a day that you need to meditate. 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:10.720 Psalmist says that if you're to meditate, you need to be meditating on his law day and night. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.880 It's this constant meditation. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:18.079 That word is the same word that's used for a child, a cow who's chewing grass. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:26.720 I don't know if you've ever been bored enough in your life to look at a cow who's chewing grass, but they take the grass and they don't just eat it, they chew it. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:31.039 It's like that one kid in your family, I'm thinking of one specifically, who just never finishes their food. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:34.319 They're there like 30 minutes after everyone's left the table. 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:41.839 And they're constantly chewing the same grass, and it's breaking down the grass until it's at a point that they're able to digest it. 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:45.759 And this is what the Bible calls you to as you meditate on God's word. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:54.319 See, it doesn't matter how much you fill your head with head knowledge, if you don't drive that knowledge from your head to your heart through meditation. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.559 And the Bible calls us to meditate day and night because we are a forgetful people. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:04.079 We're constantly in danger of forgetting the truth that we know. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:09.839 And so we need to meditate, driving God's truth deeper and deeper and deeper. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:11.680 This is the whole of the Christian life. 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:19.920 You've never driven God's truth deep enough into your heart, you are always at risk of forgetting. 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:29.039 This is why you're gonna find as that as I serve as your pastor, you're gonna come to realize, if you haven't realized already, that I don't really have many new things to say. 00:21:29.279 --> 00:21:36.319 If you're coming here for like some sort of TED talk on psychology and some new things to learn, I don't really have much to tell you. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:40.000 But you know what my job is as your pastor? 00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:44.160 Not to show you any new truth, because new truth would be heretical truth. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.799 My job is to show you God's ancient truth. 00:21:47.039 --> 00:21:59.519 And what we do on these mornings is we get together and we sing God's ancient truth and we listen to God's ancient truth through the preaching of his word, and we go out there and we speak the ancient truth to each other through Christian. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.119 Fellowship. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:08.079 See, everything that we do as a church is remembering what God has already told us. 00:22:09.839 --> 00:22:17.599 This is what Jesus is reminding us, not by reinterpreting the feast, by telling us of its truest significance that we need to remember. 00:22:17.839 --> 00:22:23.279 And so on this final and great day, you read in verse 37 that Jesus stood up and cried out. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:24.799 I love this picture. 00:22:25.039 --> 00:22:29.039 I think part of the reason why we don't love reading God's word is we just don't use our imagination enough. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:30.400 Could you imagine Jesus? 00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:38.079 He's sneaking around following the feast as the parade goes from the pool of Siloam towards the temple, and he's following around, trying to stay hidden. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:42.799 He's a celebrity at this point, and everyone at the feast you read in John 7 is talking about him. 00:22:43.920 --> 00:22:45.440 Have you heard of Jesus? 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:46.960 Who do you think Jesus is? 00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:48.480 Oh, I think they should arrest Jesus. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.519 Oh, I believe in Jesus. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:50.640 Everyone's talking about Jesus. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.519 And there's Jesus. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.359 He's lurking in the background. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:58.319 I wonder if he's running from bush to bush, doing like those uh action rolls. 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:04.400 Until the last day, we're on the final day where the crowd has gathered together at the sacrifice. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.200 Everyone's excited for the most significant moment. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:15.440 Jesus stands up and he cries out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:21.519 It's exactly the opposite of what Jesus has been doing for seven days. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.559 Now, at this feast, there's a number of different kinds of people attending. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:32.559 In verse 3, we're told about Jesus' brothers who believe in Jesus, but they're kind of misdirected. 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:43.599 They think that Jesus needs to reign kind of this political military kingdom, and that people need to see his work so that there'll be kind of this revolution, and people will start following Jesus as this political king. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:52.960 And through his ministry, he would constantly remind them he came not to be crowned with the crown of a king, but to be crowned with a crown of thorns and to suffer for his people. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:58.240 Then in verse 11, it says the Jews were looking for him at the feast. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.440 And saying, Where is he? 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:05.200 And look at this in verse 12, there was much muttering about him among the people. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:06.559 Well, some said, He's a good man. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:08.640 Others said, No, he's leading the people astray. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:13.279 Yet for the fear of the Jews, no one spoke openly of him. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:18.960 Not only are people wondering who he is, not only are people misdirected in who he is. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:26.960 In verse 32, it says the Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to arrest him. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:35.759 And so there's all these different people attending this feast, all focused on Jesus, all misguided, misdirected, confused. 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:55.119 And Jesus, in the midst of all of that, at the potential great personal cost, he stands up, he cries out, he draws the track the attention of the whole crowd to himself to say these words if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:56.400 Why does Jesus do this? 00:24:57.039 --> 00:25:02.400 Why does Jesus stand up and draw so much attention to himself despite the fact that he's a wanted man? 00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:14.160 Because of this, Jesus loves us so greatly that he reveals the truth about himself, no matter the cost, to himself. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.799 This is how much Jesus loves you. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:22.480 And I think you need to hear this truth this morning, because I wonder if you're here and maybe you question the existence of God. 00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:29.200 And one conversation I find myself having multiple times with unbelievers is this question of does God really exist? 00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:34.079 And I often ask them, well, what uh what would prove to you that God is real? 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:36.640 And sometimes they have an answer, sometimes they just don't know. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:42.799 And I said, Well, if God was in this room speaking right now, would you believe that God is real in this moment? 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:44.880 And they say, Well, yeah, I'd have to. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:49.359 You know what the argument of Christian worldview is? 00:25:49.599 --> 00:25:55.119 The argument of the Christian worldview is that God did the same thing as being in this room and speaking. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.279 That God came to this world. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:02.319 He didn't just send a prophet, he didn't just send a messenger, God sent himself. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:08.960 And at great cost to him, Jesus stands up and brings clarity to who he is. 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:19.920 And if you're here and you don't know Christ, what needs to happen in your life is you need to start to grapple with this historical man, Jesus of Nazareth, who lived 2,000 years ago in time and space. 00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:21.839 His voice was audibly heard. 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:27.680 Jesus' life is one of the most historically recorded events in all of history. 00:26:27.839 --> 00:26:30.799 In fact, it blows other history out of the water. 00:26:31.119 --> 00:26:35.839 There's no one more historically attested than this man, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:40.880 And the words that he said are the words that we have before us. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:46.400 And what you need to do is grapple with the truth that God has come to this world and God has spoken truth. 00:26:46.559 --> 00:26:49.039 And the question is, are you gonna believe that this was God? 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:52.319 Or are you gonna believe that maybe he was a liar or a lunatic? 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:57.759 What are you gonna do with this man who stood up and said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink? 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:02.160 This is also relevant for you if you are following Christ. 00:27:03.039 --> 00:27:10.720 Because for you as well, Jesus stands up at great cost to call you to water that can truly satisfy. 00:27:11.119 --> 00:27:21.200 See, when his disciples were misguided, when those in the crowds were confused, Jesus stands up and brings clarity about what it means to thrive. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:25.599 He says, if anyone thirsts, is anyone here thirsty? 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:27.680 Does anyone here need satisfaction? 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:29.279 Does anyone here need fulfillment? 00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:35.920 Well, Jesus stands up and he invites the crowds to find true and full fulfillment in him. 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.359 This is what happens. 00:27:40.079 --> 00:27:45.680 When you don't pursue the path of deepest joy in Jesus Christ, Jesus chases you. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:09.680 When we live our lives pursuing water that can't satisfy, pursuing goals that don't lead to our joy, Jesus stands up and cries out, Come to me if you want living water. 00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:13.200 And I wonder by the power of the Holy Spirit, who needs to hear that this morning? 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:16.559 That you've been living your life pursuing these things, that they're empty cisterns. 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.000 They cannot lead to your joy. 00:28:18.160 --> 00:28:18.799 They just cannot. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:20.079 They're just not designed to. 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:25.680 And Jesus this morning calls you to come and drink living water. 00:28:29.680 --> 00:28:42.960 Even this morning, 2,000 years later, Jesus has brought you to a point where he at the very least calls you to examine yourself in the midst of your busy and distracted lives to ask, are you drinking water that truly quenches thirst? 00:28:43.920 --> 00:28:48.079 There's only one water that does, and Jesus told us about it himself. 00:28:48.880 --> 00:28:51.119 Now notice what Jesus says about the thirsty. 00:28:51.279 --> 00:28:54.319 He says, There's only really one place that you can find refreshment. 00:28:54.559 --> 00:29:00.960 Jesus says, if anyone thirsts, he doesn't list a whole host of options that you can go to if you want to quench your thirst. 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:04.720 It's not like if you were to say to me, speaking of a physical thirst, hey, I'm thirsty, where can I go? 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:12.160 I'd say, oh, there's a Tim Hortons down there, and also a convenience store and a grocery store, and there's a few restaurants where you can get maybe a soda pop to quench your thirst. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.200 Whatever you want, you can go and find all these options where you can quench your thirst. 00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:17.200 What Jesus gives us is one option. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:21.680 If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:38.799 Maybe we're tempted to believe some of these some of these pursuits. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:43.680 Maybe we're tempted to believe that if we didn't have a nine to five job, we'd truly be fulfilled. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:51.039 Maybe we were tempted to believe that if we were just liked a little bit more by our neighbors, then we'd truly be satiated. 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:53.519 Our thirst would truly be quenched. 00:29:53.920 --> 00:29:59.599 But Jesus is telling us that drinking anything other than himself is drinking salt water. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:01.519 It just makes you thirst all the more. 00:30:01.680 --> 00:30:04.160 Isn't that true of the pursuits that you've had outside of Jesus? 00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:07.519 You've never arrived to a place where you're satisfied with what you have. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:10.000 The rich just want more riches. 00:30:10.240 --> 00:30:12.799 The famous just want more popularity. 00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:15.039 The entertained are never entertained enough. 00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:17.119 The popular are never popular enough. 00:30:17.279 --> 00:30:18.960 The fit are never fit enough. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:20.880 They always need more. 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:26.559 Our idols, they promise to quench our thirst, but they never quench our thirst. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:31.440 They promise to fill our bellies, but they always leave us hungry. 00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:35.039 And so what does Jesus offer us here? 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.759 Jesus offers us true thirst quenching. 00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:47.519 Jesus offers us a life that's lived in pursuit of Him that satisfies our deepest desires in Him. 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:56.240 I think of the psalmist in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2, he says, As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you. 00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.440 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:02.079 This is the invitation, church. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:03.519 Drink living water. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:08.480 Come to Jesus and find living water and never thirst again. 00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:16.319 Invitation is to leave stale water, to leave dead water that cannot satisfy, and drink of Jesus. 00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:20.960 Notice that after this, Jesus says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:23.759 He says, Whoever believes in me. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:29.039 And what Jesus is saying is that belief and faith really boil down to this. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:38.240 Do you believe that true satisfaction can be found in Jesus, or do you believe that it can only be found in the world? 00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.319 This is what faith is. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:51.680 That life, it's this belief that life will go better for you when you listen to God's word, when you live God's way, than it will go for you when you live the world's way. 00:31:52.079 --> 00:32:01.680 This is true belief, believing that Jesus is living water, that when we drink of him we'll thrive, that the food of the world just can't satisfy. 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:04.000 You've ever had food that just doesn't satisfy? 00:32:04.240 --> 00:32:07.200 You fill up, and just the minutes later you're hungry. 00:32:07.359 --> 00:32:11.519 Listen, no one in this room has a greater love for McDonald's than me. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.160 I will fight to the death on that truth, okay? 00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.359 I love McDonald's. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:21.920 But here's something I can at least admit about McDonald's: that McDonald's is good, and if you think it's not, you're just lying to yourself, okay? 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:24.319 It's good as long as you're eating it. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:44.960 It's good for about the 10 minutes you have as you sit before the Big Mac and the fries and the Coke and the kind of glory is shining down from heaven on that tray, and you delight in the perfectly made hamburger that I would also argue every other hamburger at home needs to be made and modeled after the McDonald's hamburger. 00:32:45.200 --> 00:32:51.359 You delight in that hamburger, it fills you up, it tastes so good until you're done. 00:32:51.759 --> 00:32:55.039 And then at the same time, it's a mystery of God. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:32:59.359 You feel like this brick is in your stomach, but you also feel hungry. 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:04.079 And you've eaten about 1,500 calories, but you're just still hungry for more. 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:08.079 It's food that, if we're really honest, doesn't satisfy. 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:11.279 This is why the gospel is such good news, church. 00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:23.759 Because our broken heart, the brokenness of our heart, will keep running to that food, thinking that someday it'll actually satisfy us, thinking that someday we'll actually get nutrition from it, thinking that someday it'll actually quench our deepest thirsts. 00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:36.799 And Jesus stands up in this pursuit and offers us heart change, offers us a heart that truly longs, like the psalmist for water that can truly be satisfied and quenched by Jesus Christ. 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:39.359 This is the work Jesus wants to do in us. 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:41.200 This is the work Jesus invites us to this morning. 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:49.680 It's a work that makes the things of this world grow strangely dim and makes the glory of Jesus grow blindingly bright. 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:53.039 He changes our hearts so that we desire to consume him. 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:56.319 And if you want to be a thriving Christian, this is the first thing that you must do. 00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:01.119 You must each day, each minute of each day, consume Jesus Christ. 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:03.599 Consume living water. 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:06.960 But there's a second way that Christ is inviting us to thrive this morning. 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:10.960 And the second way that Christ invites us to thrive is by pouring out living water. 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:27.599 See, first we consume living water, but what Jesus says in verse 38, he says this whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart, see, this is outpour, this is pouring out, this is coming out of you, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:34:28.880 --> 00:34:39.119 See, the second way that you are to thrive is that as you consume the water of Jesus Christ, you pour out the water of refreshment and life and blessing to those that are around you. 00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:46.880 What Jesus is saying here is really that once we believe, there's this heart change. 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:49.599 You see this? 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:56.000 That as soon as you drink, let him come to me and drink, out of your heart will flow living waters. 00:34:56.719 --> 00:34:58.719 Your heart is changed. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:04.079 The Bible says that out of that our heart is deceitful above all things. 00:35:04.400 --> 00:35:12.159 That means that before we came to Christ, the only thing that flowed out of this heart was this trickle of muddy, black water. 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:16.960 It wasn't a spring of life-giving water to those that were around us. 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:27.679 And it says now that through the Spirit, our water becomes a spring, it becomes a fountain, pouring out living water to those that are around us. 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.159 Now notice that Jesus is quoting scripture here, and so he says, as the scripture said. 00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:36.000 Now it isn't exactly clear which scripture that Jesus is quoting. 00:35:36.159 --> 00:35:52.800 In fact, oftentimes in John, he'll say that the as quote quote scripture like this, just to say that this idea is heavily supported in the Old Testament, and you start drawing comparisons, and you find that there's actually all these threads from the Old Testament that make up this one single picture of the truth that Jesus is declaring. 00:35:53.519 --> 00:36:01.039 However, surely, as we think through the Old Testament, there's so much rich imagery here in connection to the water. 00:36:01.199 --> 00:36:04.480 Especially as we think about Jesus saying this at the feast of booths. 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:13.920 Jesus is saying this at the feast where the people of God celebrated Exodus 17, where in the desert they were thirsty, and God from the from a rock. 00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:16.800 I don't know about you, but I've never seen a rock provide any water. 00:36:16.960 --> 00:36:22.239 And miraculously, God provides water for all the people to drink from the rock. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:35.599 And they're at this booth celebrating this when Jesus says that out of his heart, the one who believes in him and drinks and consumes living water will flow rivers of living water. 00:36:36.639 --> 00:36:48.639 In Nehemiah chapter 8, the people of God, they have returned from exile, and they've returned from exile, where they've been distant from God's presence, with this renewed vigor to get right with God. 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:51.039 It's kind of this recommitment of the whole nation. 00:36:51.119 --> 00:36:56.960 And it's really an amazing time in the history of the nation of Israel because they all gather around every day. 00:36:57.039 --> 00:37:07.440 It says all day Nehemiah and Ezra would open up the laws of God and they would read it and then explain it, and all day the people were hungry to hear God's word. 00:37:10.079 --> 00:37:26.239 And at the end of that day, they would read of the part of their history where, sorry, on one of those days, they would come to read of the part of their history where God instituted this very feast. 00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:36.800 And it just so happened that as they were listening to Nehemiah and as we read from God's Word and explain God's Word, they realized that the time that they were listening was actually the time that they should be celebrating the feast of booths. 00:37:36.960 --> 00:37:41.119