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Chuck Smith :: Sermon Notes for John 7:37-39

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"RIVERS OF LIVING WATER."
I. "IN THE LAST DAY, THAT GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST."
A. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, Succoth.
1. Made their booths beside their houses.
2. At the celebration in Jerusalem, the priests would pour water from their jugs on the pavement of the Temple Mount.
a. This was a memorial of the water out of the rock in the wilderness.
b. On last day they did not go through this ritual as a reminder that they now possessed the land promised by God.
II. "JESUS STOOD AND CRIED."
A. The standing was significant.
1. When the Rabbi's taught they sat.
2. When they were heralding a truth they stood.
B. Why did Jesus get so emotional over this?
1. Paul tells us, "Jesus was that Rock."
2. That is, men are perishing in the wilderness of sin. Without Christ they will surely die.
III. "IF ANY MAN THIRST."
A. Jesus was not referring to physical thirst.
1. There are body thirsts or drives necessary for our survival.
a. Meslov has defined them and catalogued them in order of intensity.
b. The strongest being our air drive.
c. Next is the thirst drive.
2. The thirst drive can be overwhelming.
B. He was not referring to our emotional drives.
1. We need love from early infancy.
a. A baby in the first six months denied this love and fondling will suffer permanent mental retardation.
2. We need security; to be needed.
C. Deep inside man the spirit is crying out for God.
1. The psychologist who denies the spiritual nature of man will never truly understand human behavior.
2. The psychologists admit that neurotic behavior often begins with frustration.
a. They trace the neurosis to the guilt, to the escape, to the inferiority, to the frustration.
b. What is frustration but thirst?
c. David said, "My soul thirsts after the living God."
IV. "LET HIM COME UNTO ME AND DRINK."
A. Here is the gospel in the simplest terms.
1. The answer to man's thirst for God can be fully satisfied by Jesus Christ.
2. He calls to your poor, thirsty soul, "Come..."
3. He said to woman at the well, "Drink of this water and you will thirst again."
V. "HE THAT BELIEVES IN ME."
A. Here He tells us how to drink from Him.
1. My spirit is thirsting for God - where can I satisfy this thirst?
2. Jesus said, "Come unto Me, believe in Me."
3. Does it work?
4. Listen to the testimony of thousands of witnesses.
B. "Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water."
1. Out of his belly shall gush torrents.
2. That area of man that so consistently is seeking to be fed will become the source.
3. God is not satisfied to just fill your life, He wants your life to overflow.
VI. "THIS SPAKE HE OF THE SPIRIT."
A. This is John's added commentary from the perspective of hindsight.
1. What is He saying about the Holy Spirit?
2. It should be as a torrent gushing forth from your life.
Sermon Notes for John 7:37 ← Prior Section
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