Such a joy to be with you this morning to worship our Lord and Savior, Lord Jesus Christ. The title of the message is The Great Invitation. And this is an invitation by the very Son of God. his work on the cross and the eternal blessings that he purchased for us. That's a three-point outline, but that's not the outline. Just an introduction to the topic, okay. But we're going to take our Bibles and now we'll turn to John chapter seven, and I'll be reading verses 37, 38, and 39. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Old Testament prophet, in Zechariah 13, verse 1, said that Messiah shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." And then, in the New Testament, we come to the passage, which I just read, and we see that the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that prophecy in Zechariah 13.1. Because, and I'll read the verse again, verse 37, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ to come for salvation through him. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Our Lord Jesus Christ here is likened unto a fountain opened. This is spiritual language. Our Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal, living fountain, spiritually, which effectually quenches our spiritual thirst. We have body thirst and we have spiritual thirst. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one, as we shall see from this message, that can quench that spiritual thirst. And He did so by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Now, regarding Jesus Christ as a fountain opened that quenches the spiritual thirst of the soul of man, William Burkett says we are to learn here in these verses, 37 through 39, that Jesus Christ is the original and only fountain of all saving grace. of whom, if we thirst after him, and apply ourselves to him, and by faith depend upon him as our mediator, we shall certainly receive whatsoever influences there are to be given by him of his saving graces, which we desire of him, and we stand in need of I want us to note three things in these three verses. In verse 37, note that it is Jesus that invites everyone who thirsts for him to come and drink. And secondly, our Lord Jesus makes a promise to those who comply. with this invitation, verse 38. And then lastly, the evidence of a believer's effectually drinking of Christ is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Now, the Apostle John declares that our Lord Jesus stood boldly in this chapter, he stood boldly before his adversaries, because this was, in the context, it was our Lord Jesus Christ at the Feast of Tabernacles. And in the 37th chapter, excuse me, the 7th chapter, verse 32, the apostle says that it was the last day of this feast. This feast lasted eight days. And what takes place here in the scripture was done on the last day. And it was a great day. It was a great day. All the people there from all over Israel, this was one of three feasts. This was an annual feast and this was one of the greatest. These feasts were times of great joy and blessing. And it says here it was a great day. We say have a good day often. But this is a great day because God has been meeting with his people. And this is especially great because our Lord Jesus is there. And he stood, it says, saying and crying out to the multitudes that are there, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. As I said, I want us to know it is Jesus who invites everyone who thirsts for Him to come and to drink. Now, it is our desire, as we look at passages of Scripture, to get a greater understanding of that text. And so it is crucial for us to know some of the circumstances that surround specifically the verses that, in chapter 7, that precede verses 37, 38, and 39. This great invitation is given to unworthy sinners. to come and to drink, to believe upon Christ for eternal salvation. Now, regarding the circumstances, the Scriptures of our text, please note, as I said, it was at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, and there were Pharisees and chief priests that were seeking out Jesus. They were seeking Him out because they wanted to kill Him. And so our Lord Jesus Christ, we find out that he did not go immediately to this feast. He came, the scripture says, in the midst of the feast. He came in the middle of it. And he kept himself hidden from them because they had one thing to do, and that was to kill the Lord Jesus Christ. We note in verses 19 through 20 of the seventh chapter, that Jesus confronted the Jewish leaders regarding their plot against him. And he asked them, did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keepeth the law. Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil, who goeth about to kill thee. And then in verse 25, chapter 7, it says that some of them, of the Jews, asked, is this he whom they seek to kill? Not only did they have the intent of killing Christ, but it was public knowledge. They knew that there were those there that were seeking the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is under these circumstances that our three verses are couched. And knowing these circumstances, then we see what a great invitation. It's the greatest invitation. I've called it that. I titled it that. I was going to call it the great invitation. But it's the greatest invitation because it is call. It's referring to the effectual call There's the common call where people hear the gospel message, but they are not saved. But it's alluding to that effectual call that's the greatest of all invitations to come to Christ for eternal salvation. It says in verse 7, if you'll note chapter 7, it says, the world cannot hate you, and this is the reason why they wanted to kill Jesus. Because, it says in verse 7, that He testifies of the works of the world, those that are not of His kingdom, He testifies of their works that they are evil. So you wonder why these Christians are being put to death, and it's happening all over the world, even as we speak, I'm certain. And it's because of the Christian's life based upon the Word of God. The unbeliever cannot stand it. They despise it. They hate. I once heard a lady say, she was a Jew, and we were talking, trying to be civil about it, and she said, I cannot even stand to hear the word Jesus. I've never heard anybody say that. But there is a lot of animosity out there against Christians and particularly those who want to live according to Scripture. And the reason why is because as Christians we want to live our lives according to the Word of God. And that offends them. And so we see it is every soul then that is invited to come in this invitation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 37, again, in the last day, the great feast, Jesus stood and he said, if any man thirsts, the offer of the gospel is to all, is to everyone. We don't know who the elect are, but we are to proclaim the gospel to all. But only those who are effectually called will come and will believe. And so those who are invited to come, we note it is every man. We should not prejudge people if we look at them and think, I don't think they have any interest. You might be surprised. The people that you think may not have any interest in the gospel be the very ones sometimes that are looking for the answer. And so, the gospel message is for sinners. I like what George Whitefield said. George Whitefield, if we took some lessons from him, we might see some of the success that he had, but when he preached, he preached the sinfulness of man. When will one ever want to flee to Christ or the cross if they never sense their sin and misery? That's so clearly set forth, isn't it, in the Catechism, as we noted? George Whitefield preached the gospel. And when he preached, he invited all to repent. He didn't go through the crowd and look out, oh, he looks like he'd be a pretty nice guy. Maybe he'd respond and pick out those that he thought might respond. You can't judge things that way. And George Whitefield knew that. And it says that when, it is actually recorded in some of his biographies, that when he preached, he spoke this way. to those that he invited to come to Jesus Christ. He said to them all, come all you liars, come all you Pharisees, come all you fornicators, all you adulterers, all you swearers, all you blasphemers, come to Christ and he will take away all your filth. He will cleanse you from all your pollution, and your sins shall be done away. Come, he said, come! My guilty brethren, I beseech you for Christ's sake and for your immortal souls' sake, come to Christ. I don't have it in my notes here, but maybe I'll have it in this evening's notes. The two messages complement each other. But there was a time when Whitefield was preaching and he saw no movement or emotion, and they were all stoic-looking people, hard-hearted. And he looked at them and he said, If you will not weep for yourself, and he said this truly, and he did so truly, he said, I will and I must weep for you. And in one time, one incident was where he was preaching to those that were coal miners, and they had come off of work not too much earlier, and their faces were dirty, and he was speaking to them in the same way that I just said. And in speaking to them and weeping for them and beseeching them to come to Christ, he began to see waters coming out of their eyes. And the tears actually made a little path of white that showed up around where the black was. And so we see it takes one who can weep for others. That's going to be the message for tonight. We must sow in tears if we'll reap in joy. Also, Thomas Haas, an 18th century Puritan priest here, says the meaning of Christ's invitation here means that no exception is to be made. The invitation is general, it's universal, it's to sinners of all ranks and degrees if they thirst. This is the requirement. Do you thirst? Do you want away from your sins? Are you tired? Are you weary of your sins? And a lot of the preaching must bring people to this point, as Whitefield did. He made them see, actually see, they couldn't clothe up or cover up their sinfulness. They were made to have their sins laid bare to them. And when they did, they flew to Christ. That's how we win souls. It's not by talking down to people or saying bad things about them, but by just giving them the Word. And that's what Whitfield did. He gave them the Word, and he gave it so passionately. You must thirst. That's what is required. If you would know, you must thirst for pardon for your sins. You must thirst for righteousness. Blessed are they that seek God first and His righteousness. How many are out there seeking the righteousness of Christ? They probably don't even know about the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. We need to preach Christ. We need to set Christ before every message, everything that we say, every gospel witness. It's all about Him. We want to lift up Christ, who He is, what He's done for, and the blessings that follow those who repent. And so we've got to know what it is to thirst. J.C. Ryle makes a very important observation concerning some of the great Christians of the past. who before the spiritual light of regeneration and the effectual call broke in upon their minds, they found no rest. And we're all familiar, are we not, with Augustine and Luther and Bunyan and George Whitefield? And here's what Ryle says. He says they didn't find rest because they weren't hearing the gospel and they were miserable. You read the life of Luther, you read the life of Bunyan, you read the life of Augustine. And Whitfield, all of these were miserable. They were thirsting. But they were being taught the wrong things and they were in the wrong place. And so J.C. Ryle says, Augustine sought rest among the Manichean heretics and he found none. Luther found no rest while groping after the truth among the monks of Erfurt in the monastery. John Bunyan, in his agony, found no rest among the doubts and conflicts of his Elstow cottage. And Whitefield found no rest. He was thirsty, that's what it means, no rest. He couldn't find rest in the things that he was engaged in. He needed to know the rest of Christ. And so George Whitefield found no rest either while groaning under the self-imposed austerities. I don't know if you read his biography, but you really feel sorry for what he had to go through. But you know, God brings people there to make them thirst and cry out for mercy. George Whitefield found no rest while groaning under self-imposed austerities and for lack of clear teaching of the gospel while he was in an undergraduate study at Oxford University. And so what I would like for us to do now is to see what it is to thirst. To thirst, what is it to thirst? Again, Ryle says, the requisite for effectually coming to Christ is to thirst for Christ as your own Savior. But what is it? We just showed some examples of what it is to thirst for Christ. Ryle says this, to thirst for Christ is to see the value of your soul. and find out it is in danger of eternal ruin. To feel the burden of unforgiven sin and not to know where to turn for relief. to have a guilty conscience, this is thirsting, a guilty conscience, and you are ill at ease, and to be ignorant of a remedy, to discover that you are dying, dying daily, and yet you are unprepared to meet God. to have some clear view of your own guilt and wickedness, and yet to be in utter darkness about God's forgiveness. You must know your guilt to appreciate or to desire the forgiveness of God. This is the highest degree of pain, the pain which drinks up your soul. that thirsting, and it dries up your spirit and your soul and pierces your joints and marrow. I begin to think there's a need here and pray that God would make people to hunger and thirst after righteousness. We need to be thirsty for righteousness outside of ourself. And it is really the preacher's responsibility to bring that before the people in a kind and loving way for their soul. We really need to love souls. Recently I ran across the quote. It says that if we would have lively preaching, we must have a love for souls. And may God give us that love for souls that we would reach out to those in their horrible circumstances. I want us to note again about verse 37, note the providential timing, the providential timing. It's very important because this whole matter of drinking of Christ was very timely because at this time, as we said, it was the Feast of Tabernacles. And at that Feast of Tabernacles, on the last day, they offered up a pot of water unto God. which they drew out of the fountain of Siloam. And so then, with reference to this custom, Christ then cries out. So the context is, it was something they were so used to, it was almost probably perfunctory, what it really meant, they maybe wasn't really sure of. And yet, Christ used that moment in the tabernacle feast of tabernacles, when water was being poured out upon the altar to show, when he said this, come to me, any of you that thirst, come unto me and drink. And so this is in In propagating the gospel, we need to, by Scripture, bring others to come to know their need and that they may thirst after Christ. And so, this is so important for us to learn. Our Lord Jesus Christ used this opportunity providentially to let them see that He is the true water. Christ is represented by, in those sacrifices and ceremonies, the water that was used. I want us to note, secondly, in verse 38, Jesus makes a promise. That is, we have been given an invitation, and so he gives a promise to those who by faith receive that invitation. And thus we read in verse 38, our Lord Jesus says, he that believeth on me as the scripture saith out of his belly flow rivers of living water. The promise is out of the belly flows rivers of living water. The belly here is symbolical of the soul. And the running of the water is actually representing the indwelling Holy Spirit. And so the promise is that if they repent of their sins, they drink of Christ, they will have the indwelling Holy Spirit. And we have this promise. Now, the giving of the Holy Spirit was in the early times during the apostles, the Holy Spirit was given in an extraordinary way, being able to do the extraordinary miracles. And the reason those miracles were made only for the first century is that after the first century, all of the canon of scripture was complete. And the miracles that were given by the Holy Ghost in that first century, the signs of the apostles, was for confirming those writings that they were of God. So once the canon of scripture is closed, there is no need. It's like Spurgeon says, you got this big building, your building, maybe 29 story building, and you get up to 29th floor and you keep putting scaffolding up there and you finish the building and you walk away. It's not going to look very good if you leave all that scaffolding up 29 stories high when you walk away from the building and say, we're done. The scaffolding represents the extraordinary gifts. It was used to build the church up. And then when the canon of scripture was closed, those extraordinary gifts were done away. But there is still a giving of the Holy Spirit. Those who truly repent of their sins, believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ, have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. And so the promise is that they will have the Holy Spirit. In John 4, verse 14, the scripture says, but whosoever drinketh of the water, he was speaking to the lady at Jacob's well. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I give him, that water is the Spirit of God, shall never thirst. But the water that I give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. Matthew Henry says, the graces and comforts of the indwelling Holy Spirit are compared to living water. Living water, literally, it's running water. Shows a plentitude of it. And as Christ has an infinite plenitude, that is necessary for our salvation and the Holy Spirit working that regeneration, sanctification in us as well. There's no lack. It's God's power and His gifts, and they are infinitely supplied to our soul for our salvation. And so we note rivers of living water are for plentitude and constancy, Matthew Henry says. The comfort flows in both plentifully and constantly as a river, strong as a stream to bear down the oppositions of doubt and fears. These flow out of His belly, out of His soul, that is, out of His heart, which is the subject of the Spirit's working and the seat of His government. The Holy Spirit's government is our heart within. Their gracious principles are planted and put into the heart which the Holy Spirit, which dwells in us, places there. We have an unlimited supply of the working of the Holy Spirit in us. We need to keep that as our comfort. And that is the promise that is given. Now in verse 39, I want us to note here that the evidence then of a believer's having the Holy Spirit is the reason that we know that we have received, we know that we've received and our thirst has been quenched by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Note, if you will, verse 39. But this make he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. And so the words, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not glorified. And so we are to understand this, that the power of the extraordinary gifts that would come in Acts chapter 1 and 2, those extraordinary gifts had not yet come because Jesus had not yet ascended into heaven. And when he ascended into heaven, the church was blessed with those extraordinary gifts. And they lasted, as we said, for the first century of the Christian church after Christ ascended. And so at the regeneration then of a sinner, the gift is given of the Holy Spirit. And the believer's thirst is quenched. There is an endless supply of rivers, of living water, all the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. We really ought to think a lot more, I believe, about the working of the Spirit and how He dwells in us. And I myself was thinking how it would be well for us to understand the fruit of the Spirit. What are they? Love, joy, peace, faith, and kindness, and temperance, goodness, and gentleness. Those fruits of the Spirit is what we should see in us now that the Holy Spirit dwells there. And so may God give us that grace to do that. And so in verse 39, it says that what was spoken of about the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, in verse 39, the Holy Ghost was not yet given, but would come later, and He is now present with us. And so, at the regeneration of sinner, they received the Holy Ghost. Now, the Holy Ghost is given to all believers for their comfort. And we note that in John 14, 16, remember the Lord Jesus Christ teaching His disciples, said, I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another comforter, and that He may abide with you forever. And then in John 16, verse 7, Our Lord says, So the Holy Spirit is given to us for comfort. The misery that we feel by virtue of our being in this world and all the circumstances and things that are thrown at us of the devil. We have the Holy Spirit in us and that's the evidence that we have truly are regenerate. It is manifest by the Holy Spirit working in us and like I said earlier, the fruit of the Spirit as well. The Holy Spirit guides believers into all truth. John 16, verse three, how be it When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. We have the Holy Spirit that directs us in the reading of the scriptures. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He shall show you things to come. Also, the believers have the Holy Spirit in them as a spirit of adoption. to teach us in our heart that we are adopted children of God. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8.15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption. All of us here as believers, we have the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. So that very desire to cry out to God as our Father is evidence of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Believers have the Holy Spirit as an intercessor. We have our Lord Jesus Christ as our intercessor. We have the Holy Spirit. And these are evidences that we have tasted of the salvation of the Lord, the Spirit's working in us. And He is our intercessor, as Paul says in Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the Spirit also help with our infirmities, for we know not, we know not, the scripture says, We know not. Now can anybody say, yeah, I know. No, you can't. We don't know how to pray as we ought. And thus, we have the Holy Spirit, our intercessor, that makes intercession along with Christ for our needs. And dear Christian, as I conclude, I would, by way of application of this message, I would speak to you this day then of applying this message, and that is we are invited to come and taste. And if there's anyone that has never drunk of Jesus Christ, if they have never come to know Jesus Christ as Savior, they are called by these words today. These words in Scripture are in the Scriptures forever, and they are here for us today. Now, I know that there are some who hear this message and they say, I'm not a Christian. I would like to be, but I'm not. Some are thinking, and there's some of the reasons that they use why they don't drink of Christ when they know their thirst They halt because of these thoughts. And there's more, but I'm just gonna name four. Some will say, well, I'm a great sinner. Or, I'm too hardened in my heart. And one that we hear often, and some will say, I'm not worthy. Well, you're not worthy, that's true. None of us are with her. That's why it's called grace, salvation by grace. And fourthly, some will say, well, I'm just too weak of a person to live the Christian life. Now, all these four excuses, and there are many more, all of these excuses have one thing in common. And they are not reasons why you shouldn't drink of Christ. They are actually reasons why you should drink of Christ. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And when you sense your sinfulness, you are on your way. You've got to know your sin and misery, as we're reminded in our catechism and in Scripture, of course. And we sense the hardness of our heart. I'm not worthy. Certainly all these things are true, but these are reasons to seek the Lord. Now all these excuses should be looked at as reasons to come and to drink of Christ. And so let us listen then to these encouraging words of John Bunyan, who himself, if you read his autobiography, you'll find that he struggled for a long time about whether he had really drunk of Christ, had he really been regenerated. I want us to take note then of those who have these feelings like, I can't come, I can't drink because I'm too great a sinner, et cetera. Here are these encouragements by Bunyan, who himself went through this very thing. He says this, remember this, you can keep them in your mind, I'm sure. Just hold it in your mind if you have trouble and think upon what I'm saying here and what Bunyan is teaching us, and that is, your coming to Christ is by virtue of God's call. Thou art called. We have, as I said earlier, the common call, we have the effectual call. You are called. Calling goes before coming. Jesus said, come. The call goes before coming. Coming to Christ is not a work. But of him that calleth, the scripture says. Your coming is by virtue of illumination. God has made you to see who you are. That's why you're saying, you're looking at these things, God is illuminating your mind. You say, well, I just can't do it. I'm not worthy. That is reason to come. Your coming is by virtue of God's illuminating your mind to see your state. And therefore, you have every reason to seek the Lord and to seek his salvation. You may be coming and wanting to come to Christ, and if you are coming to Christ, it's because God has inclined your heart to come. He was moving in your heart long before your will was engaged. His will goes before our will. God has called you, He's illuminated you, and He's inclined your heart to come, and therefore you are to come to Jesus Christ. It is God, the scripture says, that worketh in you to will, and to come to Christ. We cannot take credit because of our will that led us, as some would say, to our salvation. God makes us willing, and there's a passage in Psalm 110 that says that God makes us willing in the day of His power. He works in us according to His power and makes us willing. Keep in mind, we're on this highway of coming to Christ. And this is the obeying the invitation. And here we're dealing with the last of four encouragements that Bunyan has set forth. You are coming to Jesus Christ because it is God that gives you power. It is God which worketh in you. and you must give him all the glory. And so, as I close, I would just like to leave you with these words, and they are spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is, again, it's an invitation, Revelation, the last chapter, Revelation 22, verses 16 and seven. It is, 17, it is a call for you to come. Here's the words of our Lord. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star, and the spirit and the bright say, come, and let him that heareth say, come, and let him that is athirst, Jesus says, Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. Amen.