Dear congregation, shall we go this morning to Calvary in the spirit to see the Savior of sinners lifted up on a cross. He is preaching, you know, in the gospel from the cross, even then and there suffering the torments of the wrath of God, still from his lips came seven sermons. The seven sayings of Christ on the cross are such a precious inheritance from a dying Savior to the church of all times and places. And together these seven sayings have been compared to seven roses always blooming in the garden of the church of God. And the fifth saying of Christ on the cross is the shortest. It's just one word in the Greek. In English, it's I thirst. But in Greek, it's simply the word dipso, I thirst, four letters. And it may be the most neglected of all the sayings of Christ on the cross. Nevertheless, it is a saying that is full of gospel truth, full of beautiful and practical significance for us, especially when we consider Lord's Day 50 and the petition for our daily bread. When we sit down around our tables and think about what it costs for us to eat and to drink each day. We should think much further than the price tags on our food and the statements that come through the mail because the true cost of the bread that we eat and the water we drink and all the provisions that the Lord gives us We ought ultimately by the Spirit to trace them back to what it cost, the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 8, how shall he who spared not his own son but gave him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? And does not those all things include the bread and drink that we take so for granted? You see, the true cost, people of God, of your physical provisions, needs to be traced back to Calvary, to the Savior of sinners, to his life, to his shed blood. He was not there on the cross simply to merit spiritual and eternal life for his people, though that, of course, was the chief focus, but also their physical life. And to remind us of that cost, the Lord Jesus Christ speaks this one word As the fifth saying from the cross, I thirst. So that sinners like you and me, throughout all the ages, we can have something to drink. Not just spiritually, but also physically. And we want to learn that from the gospel as we hope to see it in our text words, which you can find in John 19 verse 28. where we read the following after this Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished. that the scripture might be fulfilled, Seth, I thirst. The theme of God's help this morning is simply this, the Savior's thirst on Calvary. We'll see first of all the facts of this thirst, the focus in this thirst, and the fruit of this thirst. The Savior's thirst on Calvary. The facts, the focus, and the fruit. Well, by this time, children and young people and all of us, the Lord Jesus was undoubtedly very thirsty. The last time that we read that he had anything to drink was at the last supper, the evening before. At that time, he said, I will not drink from the fruit of the vine until I drink it new in the kingdom of heaven. And think of how those hours had progressed since then. He had gone on to wrestle in the garden of Gethsemane where he had sweated great drops of blood. After that had been that violent arrest and the nighttime trials before Caiaphas and Annas, Pilate and Herod, there'd been that scourging in which his back had been ripped open, the striking on his mouth, the crown of thorns pressed into his head. All the while, the soldiers would have had no interest in taking care of their prisoners' need for food and water. It meant nothing to them whatsoever. And then in the early morning hours, he had been forced to carry his own cross along the dusty road there outside the city. Finally, at Calvary, they had pierced his hands and his feet, nailing him to the cross where he had then hung in midair for six long hours. No wonder he thirsted. Thirst, as you may know in a little, is one of the most agonizing things that a human being can suffer. I once spent a few hours in the desert close to the Red Sea and the sun was beating down and the temperature around me was so hot that it seemed that if I didn't drink for 10 minutes, just all the moisture was pulled out of you. That's indeed how it must have been for the Lord Jesus Christ. A fever inside of him must have been part of it. A burning thirst had come on in our Savior's body. No matter what thirst we may have experienced in this life, it doesn't come close to what the Lord Jesus Christ experienced. Just the weight of his body, born down by gravity, his hands and his feet hanging by nails, all of those things would have led for him to cry out as Psalm 22 says, my tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth. But congregation, Christ's thirst was not just physical. You know, none of us really can compartmentalize our bodies from our souls. Our bodies affect our souls, and our souls affect our bodies, and the worst part of Christ's suffering was not the suffering of his body. And our text highlights this. Our text begins, verse 28, with these words, after this. After what? after the three hours of darkness in which especially Christ suffered the torments of the forsakenness of hell that you and I deserve. And that spiritual suffering was much, much greater, infinitely greater than anything that He was feeling physically. We can never imagine what it was for Him, the Holy Son of God, to have sin imputed to him, to be in the sight of God, nothing but sin. After this, after he passed through hell, through God forsaken us, What do you say? It's one word, dipso, I thirst. It was the wrath of God coming down upon Christ that drew forth this word from Christ. And here's a lesson this morning for us, all of us. If you could put your ear to hell in these moments, What you would be hearing would be cries, I thirst, I thirst, I thirst, I thirst. You see, congregation, hell is a place where the right justice of God comes down upon sinners forevermore, and justly so. See this morning, first of all, what your and my sin deserves. You remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus? When there in hell, he opened his eyes. We read that he could not so much as have a drop of water to cool his tongue. And his request for Lazarus to come and to do so, just a drop, was refused. this congregation is what sin deserves there was no relief for the savior there during those three hours on the cross it was like you can read in leviticus 16 or on the great day of atonement the scapegoat would have the sins of the people laid upon his head and then he'd be taken out to the wilderness where under the burning sun he would thirst in a dry, parched area, the land of the curse, a symbol of hell. And so, congregation, there's a special appeal in our text this morning to those here among us who are without Christ in the world. My friends, whether you expected this or not, God is making you to hear and to see in a measure here what awaits you, except you bow at the foot of the cross this morning and turn in humility and repentance before God and seek in this Savior, in this dying Savior of Calvary, in this sin bearer, all that you need the sin bearer who suffered with such intentionality, with such focus, as we wish to see now in our second point, the focus of this thirst. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. Some have suggested that he spoke this fifth saying on the cross because he wanted to receive some degree of moisture in order to say the two final sayings, it is finished. He wanted to cry that with a loud voice as we read and Father into thine hand I commend my spirit. And this is an interesting point because we wonder why Jesus refused the drink earlier that had been offered to him. The first drink that the soldiers offered him was gall mingled with myrrh. And you need to know about that, that that was a combination that would have acted like some kind of narcotic to dull Christ's pain. And because it was Christ's intention, and rightfully so, to fulfill His sacrifice consciously, He refused it. He would have nothing to lessen His pain. in that moment of undergoing the wrath of God due to our sins. He needed the high priest of his people to be fully aware of what was happening. But now the Lord Jesus Christ says, I thirst, and he will, as we'll see, accept vinegar that will be pressed there into his lips. But there's much more, I believe, in our text than simply this, that he is preparing to say the next two words. That is something that we may surmise, but there's something that John tells us explicitly. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled. Seth, I thirst. Many times when we go through suffering or great difficulties, we have problems and trouble focusing our minds and our thoughts, don't we? You know how that is. Everything whirls around in our minds, and we can't tell things apart, and we can't seem to latch onto anything. The things that we'd planned to focus on, the things that we had told ourselves we would focus on, they seem to flee away from us. But this is not how Christ suffered. Christ's focus on the cross was very real, very strong. He had proved this already in his previous sayings from the cross. Notice how his first word from the cross had focused on those who crucified him. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then he had spoken to that malefactor next to him, and granted him full and free salvation, telling him even, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Do you see the focus of Christ on others? Then the third saying on the cross is just the same. There, Mary, his mother, at the foot of the cross is joined with the disciple John. there he discharges his duty as the eldest son and supplies in his mother's need and agony at this time and in the fourth saying from the cross he had looked to his father he had lost that communion with his father and with utmost focus he gives expression to it when he says my god my god why has thou forsaken me don't we see from all these words that christ is entirely bound up with his church and people with his father with the work of redemption that was given him to do. The fifth word on the cross is no different. He speaks this not in an extremity of agony where he doesn't really know where he is saying. No, in fact, John says, and Jesus knowing, Jesus knowing, Just take those two words for a moment, congregation, and meditate on them. Jesus, the Savior, knowing He is on the cross, not as someone whose mind escapes Him. He is in full control of what is happening. Here, too, is the Son of God. He is the omniscient one. He knows what time it is on heaven's clock, as one has said. He knows that He is accomplishing the work of redemption. He knows all the sheep for whom He is dying. And He knows, too, that He must thirst in order that sinners may have a rich supply to drink. His focus is on the glory of His Father. His focus is on the salvation of His bride, Jesus knowing Congregation, take these two words this morning and apply them to your own heart. Jesus knows, not just now from heaven, But even on the cross, he knew you, child of God. He knew your down sitting and your uprising. He knew your thoughts afar off. Even though you weren't in existence yet, you hadn't been framed in your mother's womb, nevertheless, he knew you, my sheep. I know my sheep, and they are known of mine, and they were engraven in the palms of His hand, Jesus knowing. He knows you today as well. Things that others don't know about you, things you don't want others to know about you, things you fear no one will know about you, He knows, Jesus knowing. But there's something else we want to see here in our text, and that is that Jesus' focus lands on the Scriptures. That's what John points out here. And Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Think about that. Hanging on the cross. The Lord Jesus' mind goes over the whole of the Scriptures. Things big and things small. Even down to the smallest details, Christ does not miss a thing of the Scriptures. He knows that in Psalm 69, in our verse 22-21, it says, And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. And as of now, They had not yet given him vinegar to drink. What an encouragement this is for you and for me to hide the truth of God in our hearts. Even the details of scripture. to read and study the Word of God in which nothing is superfluous, hiding the truth of God into our hearts, so that in the moment when we need it most, our minds can go, with the help of the Lord, to passages of Scripture, to encouragements, to truths, to promises, to exhortations and challenges from the Word of God. Should we not bask in the Scriptures and soak in the Scriptures more than we do? Oh, I know we often lack that focus, especially in suffering, but is there not here an encouragement to drink in the Word of God, that in our moment of need, it will be there for us? But notice also, not just Christ's omniscience here, that He knows everything and is in full control of everything, and that He knows the Scriptures. But notice also, it's remarkable, but notice His omnipotence as well. Yes, He's crucified in weakness, as the Scriptures say. But at the same time, there is in this dying Savior an authority that none can take away. No man taketh my life from me. I lay it down of myself that I might take it up again. And in order that the Lord Jesus Christ would fulfill the scriptures in this moment, he simply has to say, I thirst. And when he speaks it, a Roman soldier presses vinegar to his mouth and the scripture is fulfilled. Isn't that worth noting that Christ, even in His weakest moment, He has such authority that everything is within His control? And also this, that Scripture is waiting to be fulfilled. Nothing can hinder that. Nothing can stop that. Every part of the Word of God will and must be fulfilled. Remember that the next time you come to a promise of God and you say, I wonder whether this will be fulfilled. Friends, all flesh is as grass, and all the comeliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades. But the word of our God shall stand forever. Every promise, every threat, every encouragement, every challenge is waiting there for us to obey it and to heed it. The power of the word of God. from the lips of the Savior here on the cross. Well, what scripture is being fulfilled here? We already alluded to Psalm 69, verse 21, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. But there is so much more that the Old Testament says about thirst. I think we have to look deeper if we want to see how the scripture is being fulfilled. Notice how John says, the scripture. He takes it as a whole. He doesn't have so much in mind just one specific scripture. Though, of course, that's also there. But he could have given a quote, as he often does in his gospel, that what was said in the Psalms might be fulfilled. He doesn't say that. He simply says that the scripture might be fulfilled. And there are, indeed, many scriptures that speak about spiritual thirst in particular. You know these verses. Psalm 63, verse 1, my soul thirst for thee in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. There the psalmist is crying out of spiritual thirst after God, his God. He feels himself separated from God and he longs for communion with God once again. My soul thirsts for God, David says, as the deer pants after the water brooks. Psalm 42 verse 1, and to sow my soul thirsts for God. for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Think of Psalm 84, verse 2. My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Having just come through hellish agonies, having been separated from communion with his Father, what does the Savior say? He says, I thirst for God. My soul thirsts for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? After this, knowing that all things were accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, he saith, I thirst. He thirsts for God. What an amazing thing it is, children, that here is the one who created the oceans and the rivers and the seas. And here He thirsts on the cross. He is the one who had eternal, perfect, sublime fellowship with His Father in glory, but now here on the cross, He thirsts for that fellowship once again. Friends, do you see the Savior this morning? Do you see Him? Do you see him suffering and dying the death you and I deserve? Do you see him longing for communion with God, something that you and I need so much? Perhaps there are those here this morning, I don't doubt it, they long for God. God seems far in your life. You've come here this morning thirsty. No, not physically. There's this ache in your soul for God. The one time you knew the nearness of God, He was close. It was as if you had an abundance of food and drinks spiritually for your soul. Perhaps at the table last week when the Lord said, come and dine, and He supped with you and you with Him. But perhaps in this past week through backsliding, or through other mysterious reasons. In God's all-wise way, there's now a distance. And you came this morning thirsty. We can come thirsty, can't we? Well, say it then this morning with the psalmist and with the Savior and find yourself with His words on your lips and say, Lord, I thirst. I panned for Thee. When shall I appear before Thee? The Lord Jesus cries out His agony before the Lord, and the Lord wants us to do the same. Tell the Lord exactly how it is. I thirst, O Lord, for Thee. They give the Lord Jesus Christ vinegar. Vinegar. I don't know if you've tasted vinegar straight like that. If you're thirsty, vinegar does nothing for you. Even that, you spit out. There's a lesson here too. Isn't it true at some level that the world, all it has to offer us, apart from God, it's bitter, it's sour. It's vinegar. The world cannot supply our deepest desires. My friend, if you're chasing the world's pleasures this morning, I hope you discover it's vinegar. It isn't anything that can supply you ultimately. Your thirsty soul needs the Lord, and anything apart from Him will be unsatisfying and distasteful. I hope that you learn quickly to spit it out. And to say, Lord, I thirst for Thee, and for Thee alone, Thou alone can slack my thirst, as Thou didst for Thy Son. And this we want to see in our third and final point, the fruit of this thirst. We've seen the facts of this thirst, the focus in this thirst, and now finally the fruit of this thirst. Christ's thirst is not in vain. Yes, He's given vinegar by the soldier, But heaven gives him his heart's desire. There's two ways in which we see fruit of this thirst of the Savior. In the first place, we see it for Himself. This cry, I thirst, was answered by the Lord for Christ Himself. Because the Lord had promised that He would pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground. And so, too, in this cry, the Lord Jesus Christ is asking for the Lord to fulfill that promise that he would pour water upon him, the thirsty one, and upon the dry ground all around him. He's praying here for the reward of his sufferings that the Lord has promised him. He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Most High shall prosper in his hand. And so, the Lord Jesus Cries for that I thirst Oh father The father answers his son's requests. When does he do this? Well, he does this first of all when the veil is rent from top to bottom around this time shortly thereafter The Father from heaven making clear to Christ and to all the world there is now open access into the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God. You thirst for God this morning, the rent veil tells you there is no more hindrance from God's side. There's open access for sinners one and all because of the blood of sprinkling Sprinkled upon the mercy seat the veil is rent the glory shines through and the glory says come sinners poor and needy children Perished by the fall come and find access through the Savior Through the Savior alone into the very presence of God, you thirst for God. The veil is rent because of Christ's suffering. But secondly, this cry of Christ was answered for himself in the moment of his death when he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of hosts. My times are in thy hands. In that moment, the father's hands took the son back into his bosom, his soul, his body went into the grave, but as he said to the thief on the cross today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. Not only was the veil rent, so that sinners might have access. The veil was rent so that the son might have access to the throne of God and sit down. At this point in his soul, he is in the father's hands. He has done the father's will and he's now again in communion with his father for which he so thirsted. I thirst. The father says, come, my son, in my hands I will take you, I will hold you. the glory which you had with me before the foundation of the earth, you will have now once again. He answers it in the rent veil. He answers it when he takes the soul of Christ to himself. And thirdly, and lastly here, he answers it in the resurrection. When after three days, the Father from heaven raises Him, the Son rises Himself, and He's raised by the Spirit of holiness in that moment, then soul and body, He receives the due reward of His suffering. There He is, no longer thirsty, but He has life. He has the power of an endless life. Christ Jesus will never hunger anymore. He will never thirst anymore. He will never suffer anymore distance between His Father and Himself. The Father has fully answered His cry, I thirst, in these three ways. But Christ utters this cry as a public person, as a mediator, as a surety for His church, in His members, in His side. His bride is in His side, even in His suffering. And so when he cries, I thirst, he is crying on behalf of his people. And oh, how God answers his cry as well. To understand this, I just want to take you back for a moment to John chapter four. You know John four, when the Lord Jesus Christ had to go through Samaria. You remember that? And he sat down by the well there in Sychar, the well of Jacob. And he was weary and no doubt thirsty because he asked the woman to give him a drink. of water. We never end up reading that she gave him any water because that wasn't the point. But as he said to her, I have water to give you that if you drink of it, you will never thirst, but it shall be a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. you see congregation there in John chapter 4 you have just a little window into what happened on the cross where Jesus thirsted and he received nothing in a certain sense But this woman receives water, springing up into everlasting life. This Samaritan woman, this sinner, receives everything. And this is exactly what happened on the cross of Calvary. There the Lord Jesus Christ thirsted, and His thirst was not physically supplied in order that He might be To sinners like you and me, a fountain of living waters, springing up unto everlasting life. And so I ask you this morning, are you thirsty? Are you thirsty? Here's the fountain from which you can and must drink, my friend. Come and drink from this Savior in the gospel today. You're invited. He says it in his own word. He says, oh, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters. But I don't have any money, and you have no money. Come, buy wine and milk. without money, and without price. This is true for you too, who are not thirsty for Christ, as you should be. Some people think this invitation only comes to those who know their own thirst, and indeed, if you know your thirst, come and slacken here at Calvary, at the fountain opened in the death of Christ. But if you're here this morning and you're not thirsty for Christ, the gospel still comes to you and it says, why do you spend your money on that which satisfyeth not? Hearken diligently unto me. Eat and drink and live. Don't go on, my friend. drinking from the waters of this world because it's just vinegar. Your soul is parched. But at Calvary, my friends, in the gospel, stoop down, stoop down and drink, and your thirst will be satisfied. Christ calls us today, as Horatius Boner said so well in the song I'm sure many of you know, I heard the voice of Jesus say, behold, I freely give the living water, thirsty one, stoop down and drink and live. I came to Jesus and I drank of that life-giving stream. My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him. Amen.