Standing by a Waterfall (Dying of Thirst) - Part A

Look at this as a study in spiritual hydrology. This unusual phenomenon of an abundance of refreshment, a waterfall so to speak, in the midst of people who are dying of thirst.

Welcome to Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. Angel Falls in Venezuela is the highest uninterrupted waterfall in the world. Water rushes over the edge of Vianta Point Mountain and plunges over 2600 feet before reaching the bottom. Now can you imagine someone standing next to the roaring waters of this natural wonder and saying, man, I'm absolutely dying of thirst. That would be absurd, right?

And yet many people do exactly that with Jesus Christ, the living water. And Skip Heizik will explore that some more today in Connect with Skip Weekend Edition. But first, let's see what's going on in the Connect with Skip Resource Center this month. Betty White said, it's not easy being a mom. If it were easy, fathers would do it.

That's not a sly shot at dads. It's a compliment to the wonderful work of mothers. Here's a great way to show your appreciation for a mother in your life. It's the heart songs package, which features a teaching series on the Psalms led by Lenya and Janae Heitzig. Psalm 45 is a love song. And in it, you're going to find a groom and a bride and it's their wedding day.

And it includes an ornate dress and bridesmaids and perfume and gifts and guests. The heart songs package also includes a beautiful theology quiet time journal and a bag of Skip's library roast coffee. It's a great gift to honor a special woman in your life with encouragement and strength as she studies God's word and spends time in prayer, all while enjoying a delicious cup of the coffee Pastor Skip loves. The heart songs package is our thanks for your gift to help share biblical teaching and encouragement with others through the broadcast ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig.

So be sure to request yours when you give online securely at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. We'll cover some more of John chapter seven today from verses 25 through 53. So if you'll open your Bibles, we'll join Skip Heitzig as he reminds us of the importance of water for life. Well, this is a bottle of water and we're told and we know that water is necessary for our existence. Our human life depends upon water and as the old Sprite commercial used to say, obey your thirst.

We're all about that. People carry more water today than any other time because we recognize how vital water is to us. It regulates body temperature, it flushes out waste, it helps us process food, it keeps all of our tissues in good working condition. So we obey our thirst. There's a story of a man who was dying of thirst in the Sahara desert crawling along the sand and suddenly a man on a camel came by. He was a salesman and the man dying of thirst just reached up to his hand and said, water I need water. The man on the camel said, well I don't have any water but I'll sell you a necktie. The dying man said, necktie?

I'm dying of thirst. The man on the camel said, they're only four dollars. Again the dying man said, I don't need a necktie, I'm thirsty.

The man said, okay, okay, two for seven dollars, that's my lowest price. Again the dying man said, you don't get it, that won't help me, I'm dying of thirst, I need water. Man on the camel said, I can't help you, I don't have any water, just ties and he wrote off. As the day wore on and that thirsty man kept crawling, kept crawling, finally he came to an oasis, beautiful oasis, filled with people and he crawls and finds this beautiful elegant restaurant, goes to the front door, sees the head waiter and says, water, I need water and the head waiter said, well sir I'm sorry but this is a fine restaurant, you can't get in without a necktie.

Necktie, yeah. You know, if you've ever really been thirsty, nothing matters except getting your thirst quenched, am I right? You don't care about anything else when you're dying of thirst, let alone what's the appropriate attire for dinner that evening. We come to an interesting scene in John chapter 7 beginning in verse 25 down to the end of the chapter. It's as if you have a crowd of people who are dying of spiritual thirst.

In walks, in their midst, walks the source of all refreshment, makes the best offer they've ever heard but they want to stand around and talk about neckties. Now there is a scientific study called hydrology. Hydrology is the study of water or more appropriately the study of the distribution, movement and availability of water on the earth, that's hydrology. Look at this as a study in spiritual hydrology, this unusual phenomenon of an abundance of refreshment, a waterfall so to speak, in the midst of people who are dying of thirst. So the name of this message is standing by the waterfall dying of thirst. Now you should also know that John chapter 7 isn't the first and only time that Jesus speaks of water as the metaphor for spiritual refreshment. Back in chapter 4, the woman at the well of Samaria, you remember the story as she's drawing water out of the well and Jesus says if you drink of this water you will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that I will give will never thirst.

So that same idea comes here in John chapter 7 now as we begin in verse 25 and before we read let me just kind of tell you how we're going to slice it up. We want to look at really only two things today, the people and the promise, the people involved and there are three different groups of people all with different and confusing ideas about Christ and about what they need and then there is the promise in the midst of it and so by giving it a little more flair than just that kind of a division and wanting to divide it more applicationally, the two things we want to look at are simple. Thirsty people are confused and number two thirsty people are called. They're confused about refreshment, they're confused about the need for refreshment and what will refresh them. Thirsty people are confused and there's a good reason for it. Having never tasted of the source of refreshment, all they can do is conjecture about it, talk about it, wonder about it. In the midst of that comes Christ and the second point is that thirsty people are called.

He calls people to drink deeply and to be refreshed and to end their thirst. In my parents day and age there was a song that was popular by a gal named Peggy Lee called Is That All There Is? and the refrain in the song goes like this. Is that all there is? Is that all there is? Because if that's all there is my friends then let's keep dancing. Let's break out the booze and have a ball and that sort of sums up the philosophy of this world because everybody has gone through this life and they've asked the question is that all there is and so they try a new experience and they go is that all there is?

They try some new relationship and they go now is that all there is? And it reminds me of what God said to the prophet Jeremiah in chapter two of Jeremiah verse 13. God said my people have committed two evils. Number one they've forsaken me the fountain of living waters. Number two they have dug for themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Isn't that ironic? They're standing next to an artesian well dying of thirst digging for water in the ground. That's the same phenomena we have here. Let's begin in verse 25 and notice how thirsty people are confused and as I mentioned there's three groups of people the first group are the local citizens of Jerusalem and this is what we find. Now some of them from Jerusalem said is this not he whom they seek to kill but look he speaks boldly and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ? However we know where this man is from but when the Christ comes no one knows where he is from. Then Jesus cried out as he taught in the temple saying you both know me and you know where I am from I have not come of myself but he who sent me is true whom you do not know but I know him but I know him for I am from him and he sent me. Therefore they sought to take him but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come and many of the people believed in him and said when the Christ comes will he do more signs than these which this man has done. Okay these are the local residents who live in Jerusalem and the word on the street and they know it is that the leadership in this town trying to find Jesus because they want to kill him because they say that he's claiming to be their messiah so they want to kill him. Now this group says well now wait a minute this can't be the messiah because we know where he's from and when the messiah comes nobody knows where he's from. Question where'd they get that idea because it doesn't come from the bible it comes from an old idea that just sort of gathered steam as it went along was written in the babylonian talmud rabbi zara said the messiah will come unawares just like show up and nobody will know his background his genealogy or where he's from but we know where this guy's from so he can't be it so they're confused about him. Now sometime later trifle in the second century who opposed christians also said and i'm quoting christ if he is indeed born and exists anywhere is unknown and does not even know himself and has no power until elijah comes and makes him manifest they're confused about it let's look at the second group and we go now to verse 32 this is a different group these are the critics the leading critics of jesus the pharisees and the officers they sent the pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning him and the pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him then jesus said to them i shall be with you a little longer and then i will go to him who sent me you will seek me not find me where i am you cannot come then the jews said among themselves where does he intend to go that we shall not find him does he intend to go to the dispersion among the greeks and teach the greeks what is this thing that he has said you will seek me and not find me and where i am you can't come now these are the officers the officials sent by the pharisees to arrest jesus to arrest jesus and jesus tells them again he's told them many times he comes from heaven he comes from above the father has sent him and that he's going back to where he was sent where i'm going you cannot come well they're confused because they think does that mean like he's leaving jerusalem and he's going to go to the greeks now the dispersion that it mentions here in our text is the diaspora and the diaspora are those jewish people who have been dispersed throughout the world for a number of reasons in this case they're living around greek culture hellenistic culture and so they're thinking so this guy's leaving jerusalem he's going to go find pockets of greek culture where there are jews he's going to teach them again they're totally confused about what he's meaning to do why he's there and what he's saying what he's saying is i'm going back to heaven and for that reason you won't find me i think it could mean something deeper it could also mean in that statement that there's going to come a time when you're going to seek a savior but the savior whom you are now rejecting will be gone from your midst and that opportunity will be too late you know there is such a thing as a passing opportunity that's why the bible always encourages us to make choices now today while we have the opportunity don't let it slip by classic passage second corinthian 6 behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation now's the time here's the offer take it there's an old adage that goes like this there is a time we know not when a line we know not where that marks the destiny of man betwixt sorrow and despair there is a line though by man unseen once it has been crossed even god in all his love hath sworn that all is lost here is your opportunity here i am you're living you're breathing you can make choices make them now before it's too late there's a third third group that we want to look at go down out of verse 40 and we'll begin our reading there this is the rest of the crowd the lingering crowd not just jerusalemites not just officers and pharisees there are people from all over the world so it's a mixed bag therefore many from the crowd when they heard this saying said truly this is the prophet others said this is the christ but some said will the christ come out of galilee three different opinions in those verses has not the scripture said that christ comes from the seat of david and from the town of bethlehem where david was so there was a division of the people because of him now some of them wanted to take him but no one laid hands on him then the officers came to the chief priests and pharisees who said to them why have you not brought him now watch this these officials were sent to arrest Jesus they come back empty-handed this is what they told the pharisees the officers answered no man ever spoke like this man and the pharisees answered them are you also deceived have any of the rulers of the pharisees believed in him but this crowd that does not know the law is accursed nicodemus he who came to jesus by night being one of them said to them is our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he's doing they answered and said to him are you also from galilee search and look for no prophet has arisen out of galilee do you think they like galileans no they don't and everyone went to his own house now talk about a cacophony of confusing opinions i just looked through this chapter and i wrote down all the different opinions about christ here they are he's a prophet he's the messiah he's just a good man he's a deceiver he's a galilean he's a great speaker different opinions about him that's why in verse 43 and it's key he now there was a division among the people because of him schisma is the greek word a split decision due to the confusion that they had nobody could make up their mind really about who he was now did you notice that they mentioned he was from galilee but at the same time they go can't be the messiah because the messiah must be born in bethlehem and jesus was born in bethlehem but they're not they don't know that they just know he's from galilee okay so so here's what i discovered i'm going through this a very even slight just a little bit of incentive could have solved the problem all they would have to do is just ask a few people questions because bethlehem is five miles away from jerusalem it was pretty public knowledge they didn't know that knowledge all they had to do is just a little bit of research and they would have said oh wow he was really born in bethlehem and he's from the lineage of king david huh and this reminds me of so many people when you talk to them about god especially jesus they go well you know i've always been interested but i'm sort of agnostic that's sort of everybody's favorite word and uh and what i mean is i've heard these things i've heard those things but you know i just really haven't made up my mind here's the deal just a little bit of incentive in their lives to do a little bit of research could solve the problem honestly i'm challenging you if you're teetering about the person of jesus christ do a simple little bit of research on the historicity the veracity of the new testament documents and specifically the claims of christ the evidence is out there you will discover it's not only ample evidence it'll be overwhelming evidence for you to trust in and believe in christ but did you notice in verse 52 they made a statement of which they were wrong about look search and look no prophet has arisen out of galley sounds pretty authoritative doesn't it search look check it out there's been no prophet out of galley so when i read this it makes me think the guys who said it why don't you search and look because you ever heard of a guy named jonah jonah was a prophet who came out of galley gath heifer he was born in gath heifer five miles from nazareth where jesus was raised incidentally well search and look there's been no prophet that's come out of galley got that answer wrong we have an expression in english there are none so blind as those who will not see there are none so deaf as those who will not hear there's some people when you talk to them about spiritual things it's fingers in the ears that's how they live their lives they don't want any other input and they're thirsty you know it's rather interesting because the day we live in isn't all that different from the period we're currently studying theirs is an almost feverish interest in spirituality and an intense desire for the return of the messiah but might that intensity and desire cause us to miss what's really important and what's happening right in front of us it's certainly something to ponder so we're going to pause right there for now but here's Skip and lenya before we go jesus spoke of being the living water that if you drank of him you would never thirst again and that was such a great passage we looked at today and certainly you serve up some pretty refreshing water in the sermons that you share that speak the words of jesus and talk about the lord as you did today what are some of the other refreshing resources that you provide for people for a relationship with jesus and how can they access them well this is where i really get excited because we have such a great and creative team of people who've put together the availability of resources free of charge did you know you can download and listen to over 3500 full-length sermons that unpack virtually every book every verse in the bible verse by verse so go to connectwithskip.com if you want those messages as well as online resource store with books that i've done books that you have done lenya as well we have you version devotionals if you don't know what you version is that's a great bible app it's the number one bible app in the world and we have streaming devotionals and it can everything from how to break a bad habit to spiritual warfare then we have the the podcast connect with Skip podcast you can subscribe on spotify apple podcast google play we have audiobooks of our teachings that are available we have a youtube channel so it just keeps going on and on all the things we have all the things so the youtube channel uh it's connect with Skip heitzig tv broadcast and we have so many people around the world that tune into that it's such an honor to be on that platform some of you who are technically uh challenged there you can just sign up on email and we'll send you a devo there you go so if you can't find hoopla hulu roku or whatever these other portals are just send an email to connectwithskip.com but and we'll send you a devo we'll do we'll send you a devo but let me just tell you if you are not technically challenged and you're into tech stuff if you have a phone and i'm guessing probably every one of you that is listening to this as some kind of a device you can get an app on your phone it's called the connect with Skip heitzig app it's available at the app store for apple and on google play you can take teachings with you on the go you can read the devo mail it's all there so we invite you to take advantage of these resources here's the best part of it it's free absolutely free well thanks guys and as always if you'd like to learn more about Skip in this ministry you can visit the website connectwithskip.com so how could anyone miss the fact that jesus was the messiah when he was standing in their midst we'll see if we can answer that next time right here in connect with Skip weekend edition a presentation of connection communications cast your burdens on his word connecting you to god's never changing truth in ever-changing times