The Exclusivity of Jesus, Part 7

Dr. Michael Youssef, with words about Jesus and living water. If you thirst for righteousness, if you thirst for peace of mind, if you thirst for real joy, if you thirst for meaningful life, if you thirst for real life, if your soul is in a dry wilderness, come to me and I will give you total satisfying water to drink. In John chapter 7, Jesus speaks about the living water that only he can provide. Words read and sometimes misunderstood, especially in a time when most of us simply turn on a faucet.

We quickly ignore the spiritual significance of Jesus' words. Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for this episode of Leading the Way, and an invitation to experience the completely satisfying water that only comes from Jesus. It's part of Dr. Youssef's series, The Exclusivity of Jesus.

Please know that Leading the Way is listener supported. Dr. Youssef and his team rely wholly on God's provision through the generosity of God's people by the ministry impact of Leading the Way. Stand with Dr. Youssef. Give us a call.

866-626-4356 and online at ltw.org. Right now though, listen, as Dr. Youssef begins his message called, Jesus Gives Living Water. I want you to turn with me please to John chapter 7 beginning at verse 37. The Gospel of John chapter 7 beginning verse 37 and we're going to read 38 and 39. On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. And John continues, by this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. For up to that time, the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. Here in John chapter 7 verse 37, Jesus is telling his disciples that the Holy Spirit is coming following his resurrection and ascension. He said, I go to the Father and when I go to the Father, I send him to you.

I don't leave you often, I'm going to send him to you. He, the Holy Spirit, came right on schedule as Jesus promised and that is why later on Jesus told the disciples before his ascension, he said, you stay in the upper room until the Holy Spirit comes upon you to empower you for ministry. And so verse 37 again, John 7, 37, Jesus gives us one of the most powerful, the most beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit, the living water.

Question, if he is the living water and if there is life-giving water, is there a dead water? Yes, absolutely. Stay tuned and I'm coming to it in a minute. But before I do this, I need to put this particular text in its context as we always do. This was no ordinary day. This was not just another day or just another celebration.

This was a very special day. This was the last day of the great feast. What is that great feast? Well, it was the feast that lasted for seven days, seven days, day after day after the celebration, seven days, seven days celebration. It was the feast of the tabernacle.

It was the feast in which the Jews remembered and celebrated how God delivered their ancestors from certain death, from being thirsty all the way to death. In the wilderness when they came out of the slavery of Egypt, there was no water. And you remember in the wilderness they cried out to Moses before they went to the land of promise. Here they are, desert, anywhere they look, desert, desert, no water. And supernaturally, twice God provided for them living water, water that make them live and not die.

Exodus 15, if you want to follow with me, you can put a mark on John 7, Exodus 15, second book of the Bible, 23 all the way to 25. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter, for that's what the word means. Marah means bitter. Remember when the Magi's came from the Far East and they brought gifts to Jesus? They brought him gold for his kingship. They brought him ensign for his priesthood. And they brought him myrrh or marah. It's the same word, bitter. Why? In order to illustrate the bitterness of the cross that is awaiting him as he gets older.

Himirat, please. The bitterness of the water in Marah was not uncommon in the desert. It was not an uncommon phenomena at all. There was some water, but it was always bitter.

And there's a long geological explanation for it, I won't block you down with it, just trust me, okay? But be that as it may, that does not help the nearly two million people that Moses brought out of Egypt. They were thirsty, they were experiencing sheer thirst, they were almost dying of thirst. So in Exodus 15, 22, they were beyond desperate for a drink of water. Not bitter water, that would kill them.

That would not help them at all. But they needed water that would give them life that will make them survive. In Exodus 15, the Lord gives Moses a very unusual, if it's not a bizarre, solution to that bitter water. What did he say to Moses? He said, take a tree and throw it in the water and the water will change from being bitter to being living water or life-giving water. Did you know that five times, five times, did you see five times? Five times. Five times the Bible calls the cross of Christ a tree, or that tree.

Oh beloved, listen, don't miss this, don't miss this, this is really important. The only healing for our embittered souls is the cross of Christ. The only healing for our embittered memories is the cross of Christ. The only true redemption, forgiveness and restoration is the tree, which is the cross of Christ. The word bitter, or bitterness, is mentioned many times in the scripture. Many times. And sometimes the Bible liken it to a root, not a fruit, but a root.

Why? Because bitterness can go deep into a person's life and not even be aware of it. Jesus can heal that, and he can heal it today. In every case in the scripture, you can test me on this, in every case in the scripture, whenever a life becomes bitter or embittered, it is when that person destined himself or herself from the Lord. The Bible said that when Peter destined himself from Jesus and he denied him three times, the Bible said he went out and wept bitterly. The tree that Moses threw into that bitter water transformed it into sweet life-giving water. Now I'm giving you this explanation, obviously, for a reason, because I want you to understand why this particular feast was very, very, very important and Jesus strategically makes this announcement during the last day of the week.

It's vitally important that you get that. Whether it would be in mara or in the water that came out of the rock, it's important to understand the significance of that great feast and the significance of Jesus's declaration of his exclusivity and the exclusivity of the gift that he gives and only he gives. And that is why Jesus chose the very last day of the celebration, the seventh day. He waited probably every single day he was there in Jerusalem watching the celebration, as I'm going to explain it to you, and then he waited to the very last day to make this incredible declaration I just read to you, that he and exclusively he can give the Holy Spirit.

No one else, that he and he alone can give the life-giving water that comes from his Spirit, his Holy Spirit. Now let me tell you exactly what happened during those seven days. It's the same thing that happened day after day.

There was no variation. Day after day the priests will come out of the temple with the golden vessels in their hand, each of them, all of the priests. And they line up in front of the temple and they go all the way down in the Kidron Valley because it goes down, it's a hilly area, so they would go down through the Kidron Valley, all the way to a pool called the Pool of Siloam. There behind them, as they were marching down, masses of people, whoever's there wants to line up with them, they line up behind them. It's a huge procession.

Day after day, day after day, they're processed and they're going the same formation, all the way down to that pool. And there at the pool, the priests would ceremonially dip their golden vessels and then they carry those golden vessels back up that hill without spilling it. They have to walk up all the way back to the temple and when they get to the temple, inside the temple ceremoniously, they would pour that water that they just got from the Pool of Siloam and they will pour it on the altar.

During that time, the crowd starts singing. Listen to the song, memorize it, because I want to show you the significance of the song and Jesus's declaration. With joy, we shall draw water out of the will of salvation. With joy, we shall draw water out of the wells of salvation. And that repeated and sung and sung and sung and sung. We draw water out of the wells of salvation. Let those words sink in, please. The wells of salvation.

Hear me right. The ceremony and the feast were designed only for one purpose. Only one purpose. And that is to remind each generation of God's people how God saved their ancestors all those years ago from certain death by thirst. How God and only God could quench their thirst. Only God could satisfy their deepest longing. Only God could give them life. Only God could heal their bitterness. Only God can restore the restless spirits. Only God can renew their dead lives. Only God can mend their broken hearts. Watch this with me, please.

Watch it. Jesus waits, as I said, to the seventh and the last day of the feast. They've been doing this day after day, day after day, for six days and then the seventh day. I have to believe, it's not in the scripture, that our Lord did not necessarily want to interrupt their celebration. He did not want to interrupt their remembrance of God's goodness and mercy in the past. He wanted them to go through the process of thanking God for his salvation for their ancestors. He wanted them to keep on remembering God's past supernatural interventions, supernatural acts to save their ancestors. After that, in the last day of the feast, he makes his exclusive declaration. His exclusive and exclusivity is manifested in his inclusive willingness to offer the gift of salvation to whomsoever, to whomsoever, to whomsoever believe in him.

If anyone, Jesus said, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. In the past message, we saw how Jesus used, always used precious things to them. He relating to them, he was being relevant to their situation and their time, and he used those precious things to illustrate who he is as an exclusive Son of God. He is the bread of life. He is the vine. He is the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the door.

He is the light of the world. And here he says, I am the giver and the only giver of the water of life. I'm going to explain that in a minute because Jesus is saying more than that.

He's saying more than that. He's saying that he is the fulfillment of that ceremony that they've been going through for six days. That he is that rock that provided the water for their ancestors. That the tree is the cross that was thrown into the bitter water and made it living water. Jesus said, whomsoever the exclusivity of Christ issues an inclusive invitation.

Whomsoever believe in me. Not only will receive eternal life, eternal healing for the soul, not only will experience eternal life in heaven, not only enjoy false restoration of life, not only experience contentment and joy in this life, but as the scripture says, streams of living waters will flow from within him. Beloved, the Lord is emphasizing some incredible facts here.

He really is. And if you read a scripture and you run through it, you miss out a lot of the incredible depth for seven days. He's saying to them, for seven days you have seen the ceremony which looks back at what God did in the past. It looks back to the healing of the bitter water in the wilderness. Now, I am and my cross are the true quenchers of thirst. Back then, Moses put the tree in the bitter water and made it sweet.

Back then, the rock gushed with water. Now, I am, in reality, that rock and my cross is that tree. If you thirst for righteousness, if you thirst for peace of mind, if you thirst for real joy, if you thirst for meaningful life, if you thirst for real life, if your soul is in a dry wilderness, come to me and I will give you total satisfying water to drink. But that's not all.

That's not all. He said, you're not only going to be blessed, but you're going to be blessing to others. You're going to bless others, your family, your colleagues, your business associates, your neighborhood.

Everywhere you go, you will be a blessing. Now, I'm telling you this, I just had one man revival with this one. I don't want to move quickly away from the word thirst. People thirst for meaning. There are people who thirst for significance. There are people who thirst for a sense of wanting to belong, belonging. There's some people thirst for wanting to accomplish something with their life, to all.

To how many? Jesus says, come to me and you will get from me what your heart truly longing for, what your heart is really longing for. Whether you know it or not, come to me and I will empower you to do great things for God. If you have ever experienced, I'm talking about seer thirst, physical thirst. You'll be able to translate this into the spiritual realm. See, physical thirst is the most powerful drive in human life.

Let me tell you something. I've only experienced it once. I'm talking about when your mouth is like this stuffed with cotton or sand and you're so desperate, you're so desperate. In fact, I read the other day that the next biggest war is going to be over water. You see, we can go for many days or weeks without satisfying other drives, whether it be food or comfort or sex or happiness.

We can survive for a long time without these drives, but we cannot survive without water. As I said, if you've ever experienced that searing thirst, then the question of that thirst becomes an obsession. It becomes all you can think of. You can't think of anything else. You don't care about anything else.

Everything else fades in the background. You can only think of satisfying your thirst, and that is why Jesus uses this symbol here. In John chapter 4, Jesus confronts the Samaritan woman who was desperately searching for real meaning in life, was desperately searching for the living water without knowing it, and Jesus offered her. He asked her for water, but then said, if you know what I can give you, I can give you the living water. She felt degraded.

She knew nothing but degradation and drudgery. She was living in denial of her real needs, and she sought satisfaction for her spiritual thirst and sexual promiscuity, and that is why Jesus said to her, this kind of temporary satisfaction that you think you're receiving, this kind of salty water that you are drinking, this kind of life that you're living, will never give you the true and lasting satisfaction, but the water I give, he's talking about his spirit, the water I give is the living water. Now beloved, the world's water that you are drinking is salty water, and the more you drink it, the more you want to drink, and the more you drink it, the more you want to drink, it never satisfies, but the living water that only Jesus can give you, it cleanses the heart, it washes away sin, it removes all guilt and shame, it does a total job. The Holy Spirit brings a conviction, then the same Holy Spirit places thirst for righteousness, for forgiveness, for eternity, and so we turn our life to Jesus, he leads us all the way there, and when we come to God only through Jesus, only through Jesus, he gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell in us, not just convict us.

But then there's added blessing, as I already said, if we truly comprehend this passage here, it will bless us out of our socks. Jesus does not say that if you come to me, I'll satisfy your wants and your greed and your ambitions, there's some false teachers and false preachers preaching this stuff, sadly, it grieves me to my spirit. He did not say come to me, and I'll give you everything you ever wanted, or anything you ever desired, sadly some people preach that. Of course Jesus promised to meet our needs, how many times did he promise to meet our needs, to meet our needs, absolutely you can go to the bank with that, but here he said, whoever believes in me, streams of living water will flow out of them. Jesus is telling us that a sign that the Holy Spirit is working in us, that the Holy Spirit is renewed every day in us, that there are rivers of blessing flowing out of us into others, and if the Spirit is flowing out of each of us, you do not need a preacher to tell you to multiply yourself, to be used of God, to tell others about salvation, you don't need a preacher to do that, because you're already doing it, if the Holy Spirit is flowing in you, and when you do that, you experience true satisfaction, true joy, true contentment.

So are you drinking bitter water, hoping for satisfaction, or living water from Jesus? If you would like to speak with a leading the way pastor or counselor on any topic, please consider filling out a short contact form, and you can start by going to ltw.org slash Jesus. Leading the Way's Open Door campaign is continuing to focus on three strategic areas where the greatest need and opportunity exists. Together with your partnership, Leading the Way is committed to reaching remote villages with the good news of Christ's love through the Navigator. Compact, durable, and solar-powered, the Navigator audio device is the perfect means of sharing the Gospel in remote regions and equipping underground churches.

With the audio version of the New Testament and up to 150 of Dr. Michael Youssef's messages in the local language, illiteracy is no longer a barrier to the Gospel. Join us in this mission to passionately proclaim the uncompromising truth of the Gospel. The time is short and the need is urgent. Will you partner with Dr. Youssef today to walk through this open door of opportunity? Get the details on how you can participate in the Open Door campaign. Give us a call. We're at 866-626-4356 or ltw.org. This program is furnished by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.