Rivers of Living Water

In our text today, Jesus makes a promise. This is a promise about the Spirit and His power, and how He can change a person's life. As usual, there are two parts to today's sermon. First, I'll explain the text. But then, I'm going to ask what I think is an obvious question and that's when I hope to show you how this promise relates to your life. Our text is John 7.37-39.

The first thing I want to do is be clear that this is not a promise that's just about getting converted. This is not a promise offered just to people who aren't Christians intended to encourage them to become Christians. This is a promise offered to everyone. It applies to someone in the midst of following Jesus as well as to someone who has not yet become one of His disciples. So, that means that this is a promise meant for all of you. Jesus is speaking to you.

The next thing that I want to do is to lay out the structure of Jesus' offer. There are two basic parts to what Jesus is saying, and they go something like this: If you fulfill certain conditions, then I will give you something good. So, what are the conditions?

'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink...'

The very first condition is to acknowledge that something is lacking. Before anything else can happen a person must acknowledge that he is thirsty. No one is going to look to quench a thirst that he does not think exists. So, embracing this promise of Jesus begins when a person admits that something isn't right. He senses that there is more to his life than what he is experiencing. He's thirsty. It's important that you remember that this promise is for both saint and sinner. That means that it's for Christians who sense there is more and that they are missing it.

This requirement rules out those who will not give up their pride. It rules out those who refuse to think that anything is wrong with them. They are fine, and they will tell everyone that they are. They are fine, and they don't need anything. As a result, Jesus' promise is not for them - or so they believe. Please note that Jesus has not excluded them. They have excluded themselves. And that is incredibly sad. There is more for them to enjoy, but they will not enjoy it.

So, Jesus' promise is only for those who know that something is missing, those who know that they are thirsty. And what's this thirst? It is a thirst that afflicts us all. It is a thirst for God.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. ​My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

To these who thirst for God, Jesus offers a solution. He invites them to come to Him. He invites them to come so that they might drink, so that their thirst for that something more, their thirst for God, can be satisfied. So, these thirsty souls take Jesus at His word. They come to Him. 'Lord Jesus, I want more. You've promised more. Please give me more. I want more of God.'

At this point, the conditions are fulfilled. Now, Jesus must act. He must keep His promise. And He does. And this is what He promises.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'

Once again, Jesus uses an image to express Gospel truth. He paints a picture. But we don't need to wonder what the image of 'rivers of living water' refers to. John tells us what that is. He wrote,

Now this he said about the Spirit …

So, Jesus' promise is all about giving the Spirit to those who come to Him. The thirst for more of God is slaked by giving more of God, the Spirit. I hope you noticed that Jesus' promise isn't just about quality. It's also about quantity. Jesus doesn't promise a little sip of living water. It's 'rivers of living water'. Jesus isn't chintzy when it comes to the promise of the Spirit. He promises to flood those who come, to overwhelm them with an abundance of the Spirit. And where the Spirit is there is power.

Now, what do you suppose that will that look like? When someone is granted an abundance of the Spirit, how will that show itself? My next thought will reflect a bias that I have. The popular image of being inundated with the power of the Spirit is all about someone who is an extrovert. An extrovert is given to big and bold. I do not say that as criticism. The world needs extroverts to do the big and bold. But introverts are not usually given to big and bold. So, does that mean that introverts are left out? Can it be that an introvert will also be blessed by Jesus giving an abundance of the Spirit but experience that as an introvert? The point here is that you should not be fooled by personality traits. The work of the Spirit will show in both extroverts and introverts, but His work will show differently. The point of His work is not in a certain type of display but in what is going on behind that display. The Spirit is all about power, but that power might do its work in very quiet ways. The Spirit gives power to change, first to change the person He is working with and then to use that person to change others around him. The Spirit is about change, and that includes dramatic change - that might be very quiet. Sometimes the powerful work of the Spirit is something that proceeds very quietly.

I remember reading this bit of Scripture that intrigued me. It was not what I expected. God is speaking:

But I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like dry rot to the house of Judah.

I'm used to God describing Himself in terms of a roaring lion or soaring eagle. A moth?!? Dry rot?!? These are unusual ways for God to describe Himself as He goes about bringing punishment on His rebellious people. But consider the imagery. Both the moth and dry rot do their work quietly, the moth eating garments stored in the back of a closet and dry rot weakening the hidden beams and rafters of a house. You see nothing and you hear nothing. But something is happening - quietly. The reality of the change is only revealed later. It is the same for many people when it comes to the blessing of the Spirit. He is quietly at work, bringing change that isn't noticed - not until later when the reality of what He has been doing is revealed. So, do not equate the blessing of rivers of living water with something loud and obvious. It might be, or it might not. But whether loud or quiet, there is change going on, powerful change, change that is revolutionary. It is, after all, rivers of living water. Change doesn't have to be loud. It just needs to be real.

So, here is Jesus' promise along with the conditions that He requires to be met. And when they are met, He keeps His word. He gives an abundance of the Spirit who powerfully changes lives. And isn't this what we see in the book of Acts. The Spirit comes, and lives are powerfully changed. That shows within the Church as the saints love one another in a variety of ways. And it shows outside of the Church as the witness of the saints changes Jews and Gentiles into Christians. The conditions were met, and Jesus kept His promise: rivers of living water, a multitude of changed lives.

Now, we're ready for the second part of the sermon. Here's the question that I promised. In light of what we've seen in Jesus' promise, why is it that as we look at our piece of the world, however you want to define that, we do not see much evidence of rivers of living water? Where is this revolutionary change? Where is the display that an abundance of the Spirit has been given to those who thirst for more?

There are only two possible answers to that question. Here's one. Thirsty people are coming to Jesus, but He isn't keeping His promise. Here's the other. The conditions of the promise are not being met. That is, people are not sensing this thirst and coming to Jesus to have it quenched. Now, there may be someone who will say, 'Wait a minute! There's a third option. You've set this up all wrong. You're expecting too much of being a Christian. Following Jesus just isn't that revolutionary.' And that gets at the heart of some very important differences. A good question to ask here is, 'So, what should we expect as we follow Jesus, if not revolutionary change?' But instead of delving into that I would just ask our friend how he understands Jesus' promise. What does it mean to have rivers of living water flowing out of your heart? I think the way that I've explained it is close enough to right so that I can say that there really are only two answers to our question, ‘Why aren’t we seeing much evidence of rivers of living water?’ Either Jesus isn't keeping His promise, or people aren't coming to have their thirst satisfied. If the problem is on Jesus' side of the deal, then we all ought to give up this Christianity foolishness and live like rank pagans. If Jesus won't or can't keep this promise why should we believe that He can keep any promise? But if the problem isn't with Him, then it has to be with us. We aren't fulfilling the conditions. Which will it be? I'm going with the second option. We aren't fulfilling the conditions. And that merits some examination.

The answer, of course, to our question about why we aren't seeing much evidence of living waters is not difficult. The answer is sin. But lest that be understood in a simplistic way, let's go further. It's the sin of unbelief. Jesus has come for the explicit reason of giving the Spirit so that He might powerfully change lives. Believing in Jesus is all about the Spirit. It's all about change, revolutionary change. That's the Gospel. Saying anything less than this just isn't being honest with the Scriptures. So, when Jesus offers this promise, He expects belief from those who say that they are His disciples. And a lack of belief here is sin. It's rejecting the Gospel.

There are different kinds of unbelief. The first kind of unbelief comes from someone who, profession of faith notwithstanding, has never been born again. He's at church most Sundays, even shows up at a Bible study from time to time. He's religious in a sort of acceptable way. But he has never come to Jesus. He has never submitted himself to Jesus as Savior and Lord. And the themes of his life show that. Same old, same old. Nothing changes. Now, let me tweak that just a bit. Of course there is some change, but it's the wrong kind. There has to be some change. After all, we get older. And as we do our situations change. But that change has nothing to do with the power of the Spirit. It's just a matter of the sins of a young man being replaced. He no longer sins like he used to. Now, he sins in the way an older man sins. So, there is a kind of change, but it is the wrong kind. This person will one day hear the terrifying words, 'Depart from Me. I never knew you.'

Then, there's this other form of unbelief. This Christian hears the promise, but because of his pride he doesn't think that he needs to do anything. He isn't thirsty for more, at least not more of anything religious. There is a sense that something is missing, but there are other ways to satisfy that - or so he thinks. This person is taken with the distractions of the world. As a result, he settles for a mediocre Christian life. He assumes that's good enough. But this person needs to remember that life is dynamic. If someone is not growing, he is fading. If there isn't more life that means that there is more death. A mediocre Christian life has to become better or it will necessarily become worse. And the person who responds to that with a, 'Well, at least I'll still make it to Heaven', actually won't.

Then there's this kind of unbelief. Here we have a Christian who would like to believe Jesus' promise, he really would, but after all these years he's not seen it happen and he's given up hope that he might be the recipient of rivers of living water. There are many like this these days. When I think about these folk, this is the Scripture that comes to mind.

When Jesus went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

There are far too many Christians these days who are likewise sheep without a shepherd. They do not understand and have been misled. So, for one example, they think that the work of the Spirit is always this loud, dramatic thing that starts with an explosive experience. They've been told that those who have the Spirit rise above the troubles of this world, untouched by them. But this is not their experience. And so, their faith is small, stunted, almost extinguished. Did you notice how Jesus responded to that crowd? 'He began to teach them many things.' These struggling Christians need to hear Gospel truth. They need to be taught the Bible so that they can know what is true and what is false. They need to hear about the Spirit and about how He does His powerful and usually quiet work. They need to have their faith nourished so that they can hope that they, even they, might receive rivers of living water from Jesus. This kind of unbelief can be cured, but they must be taught.

There is one more kind of unbelief I want to mention, but this one is different. And here I tweak some of the things that I've said. This person is actually receiving rivers of living water. His sin of unbelief is the kind that is actually being worked on by the Spirit. He is at work pointing out sin. And this Christian is responding to that by repenting of that sin and coming again to Jesus for forgiveness and change. And the 'change' part of that is tied up with receiving more living water. This Christian is being blessed with more of the Spirit so that more of his unbelief will be exposed and then be dealt with by repentance and faith. This is the quiet work of the Spirit. It is quiet, but it shows. There is change. This Christian is learning how to drink deeply. This Christian is enjoying more of God. And that shows, at the very least to himself, as deeper affection for the Father, a growing trust in Jesus that shows especially when life gets hard, a willingness to take risks for the Gospel. These are not changes that explode upon the scene for all to see and be amazed at. They are quiet changes. But they are changes that will make the difference at the right time.

This Christian is learning that receiving living water isn't a once in a lifetime event. It is a process that cycles. This Christian experiences his thirst and acknowledges that it will not be satisfied with anything less than more of God. And so, he comes to Jesus asking for more. His prayer might use the language of thirst and water, but it doesn't have to. He just knows that there is more to be enjoyed. So, he comes to Jesus asking for it. And Jesus gives him more. And that satisfies. But, ironically, it also creates more thirst. This cycle of thirst and satisfaction and then more thirst is not frustrating. The sense of greater thirst is glad reminder that there is more to enjoy and so there is a certain pleasure in it, especially because this Christian knows that his thirst will be quenched. This cycle continues for the rest of his time here. It can never end here. But even in the new heavens and new earth, the cycle will continue. There will be differences, but the cycle of thirst and satisfaction that leads to more thirst and more satisfaction - that cycle will continue. And I can say that because throughout eternity there will always be more of God to enjoy.

You have before you Jesus' promise. I've described the conditions of the promise and what the fulfillment of that promise looks like. And I've also described several responses to that promise. The only question is this: How have you been responding to Jesus' promise? Is there evidence of rivers of living water flowing from within you? Do you sense the Spirit at work in you, changing you? If you do, then give thanks for this gift from Jesus. Give thanks and continue to work with the Spirit by repentance and faith. You will enjoy more of God. And that is something that will only get better. Give thanks and rejoice. But if you do not have this sense of the Spirit busy in your life, busy changing you, then you need to ask yourself a couple of questions: 'Why not?' and ‘What are you going to do about that?’