1-4-26
Opening Prayer:
Father God thank for sending your Son “Jesus”, our Lord and Savior that freely gives us living water. I pray we intently digest your Words in this sermon. That we apply them to our very lives this very moment that changes us to live faithfully according to your Words daily. I pray this in the name of Jesus! Our Lord, King, and Savior… Amen.
LIVING WATER FOR A THIRSTY WORLD
Text: John 7:37–39 (NIV)
John 7:37-39 NIV
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [39] By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
I. A WORLD THAT IS DESPERATELY THIRSTY
We live in one of the most connected, advanced, and comfortable generations in human history—yet people are more anxious, lonely, depressed, and broken than ever before.
People are thirsty:
- Thirsty for peace
- Thirsty for purpose
- Thirsty for forgiveness
- Thirsty for hope
- Thirsty for truth
And the tragedy is this:
Many are drinking everything except what satisfies.
People try to quench their thirst with:
- Success and money
- Relationships
- Entertainment
- Substances
- Social media approval
Yet the more they drink, the thirst grows stronger.
Isaiah 55:2 NIV
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Only Jesus addresses the deepest thirst of the human soul.
II. THE SETTING: JESUS’ INVITATION (JOHN 7)
Jesus makes this declaration during the Feast of Tabernacles, one of Israel’s greatest celebrations.
Each day, priests would pour water on the altar, symbolizing:
- God’s provision in the wilderness
- God’s promise of future salvation
On the last and greatest day, Jesus stands and cries out loudly—this was no whisper.
John 7:37 NIV
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
Jesus is saying:
This is bold. This is divine. This is grace.
III. THE CONDITION: “ANYONE WHO IS THIRSTY”
Jesus does not say:
- “Let the religious come”
- “Let the clean come”
- “Let the successful come”
He says: ANYONE
Thirst is the qualification.
She was:
- Broken
- Ashamed
- Rejected
- Living with regret
Yet Jesus met her where she was.
John 4:13-14 NIV
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Religion avoids broken people.
Jesus pursues them.
IV. THE COMMAND: “COME TO ME AND DRINK”
Notice—Jesus does not say:
- “Clean yourself up”
- “Fix your life first”
- “Try harder”
He says: COME
Salvation is not earned.
Salvation is received.
Matthew 11:28 NIV
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Think of dehydration. A person doesn’t need:
- A lecture
- A manual
- A self-help book
They need water.
Jesus doesn’t offer advice.
He offers life.
V. THE PROMISE: “RIVERS OF LIVING WATER”
Jesus doesn’t promise a cup.
He promises rivers.
This is abundance, not survival.
John 10:10 NIV
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
When Christ saves you:
- He forgives your past
- He gives you peace for today
- He secures your eternity
But it doesn’t stop there.
VI. THE POWER: THE HOLY SPIRIT
John explains that Jesus was speaking about the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit:
- Regenerates us (Titus 3:5) Titus 3:5 NIV he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
- Seals us (Ephesians 1:13) Ephesians 1:13 NIV And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
- Empowers us (Acts 1:8) Acts 1:8 NIV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
- Produces fruit in us (Galatians 5:22–23) Galatians 5:22-23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The same disciples who hid in fear:
- Preached boldly
- Loved radically
- Changed the world
Why?
They were filled with living water.
VII. FROM RECEIVERS TO RIVERS
Jesus says the water will flow from within you.
Christianity is not just what God does for you,
it’s what God does through you.
John 7:38-39 NIV
Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” [39] By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
- A forgiven man forgives others
- A restored addict reaches addicts
- A comforted believer comforts the hurting
You are not just saved from something—
you are saved for something.
VIII. WHY PEOPLE STILL LIVE THIRSTY
Some reasons people stay spiritually dry:
- They drink from broken cisterns
- They stop coming to Jesus daily
- They grieve the Holy Spirit
- They replace devotion with routine
Jeremiah 2:13 NIV
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Religion without relationship leads to dryness.
Jesus invites us back to the source.
IX. THE INVITATION STILL STANDS
Jesus’ words were loud then—and they are loud now:
“Let anyone who is thirsty come.”
John 7:37 NIV
On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
Not tomorrow.
Not after you fix everything.
Now!!!
No works.
No time.
No religion.
Just faith.
“Jesus, remember me.”
Luke 23:38-43 NIV
There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. [39] One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” [40] But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” [43] Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
And Jesus responded with living water:
“Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Some here are:
- Dry
- Tired
- Burdened
- Running on empty
Jesus does not shame you.
He invites you.
John 3:16 NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Father God,
We confess that we have tried to satisfy our thirst with things that cannot save. Today, we hear the voice of Your Son calling us to come and drink. Jesus, we believe You are the Living Water. Fill us again with Your Holy Spirit. Restore what is dry. Heal what is broken. And let rivers of living water flow from our lives into a thirsty world. We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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