Finding The Fountain Of Youth

All my life long I had panted for a drink from some clear spring that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within. Feeding on the husks around me till my strength was almost gone, longed my soul for something better only still to hunger on. Hallelujah!

I have found him. Whom my soul so long has craved, Jesus satisfies my longings through his blood I now am sick. Have you ever felt unsure how to talk about your faith? Are you keeping to yourself the very message that saves lives?

There's no cure for growing old or magic potion that can restore your youth. But believers in Jesus Christ look forward to an eternity of living in heaven with God. The saving power of the gospel is not something to keep to ourselves.

The message of hope that the world longs for is something we should share whenever we can. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart. Stephen Davey is your Bible teacher and he has a message for you today called Finding the Fountain of Youth. Today we focus on this wonderful gospel and our Lord by means of this table and let me just sort of set our thoughts as we consider it.

Take your gospel by John and turn to chapter one and I'll get there eventually. It's interesting to me how for centuries, probably for as long as mankind has been around, people have wanted to figure out a way to live longer. It's a billion dollar plus industry today, anything related to anti-aging, not that you or I have anything to do with any of that stuff, but finding some kind of secret, finding some loophole, how to defy aging, how to live longer, people were interviewed, in fact you can just do what I did in Google the searches and find all sorts of comments from people who have lived beyond their 100th birthday. I did find it interesting that Christianity Today, a journal carried excerpts of interviews with some of these individuals who have lived into their 100s, looking for some kind of clue, looking for some kind of habit, some kind of perspective, maybe it's the region, maybe it's the weather, it really doesn't have much to do with it at all. Christianity Today interviewed one woman who was into her 100s and they asked her, you know, what's the benefit of living beyond 100 years of age and she thought just for a second and then she said, well, there's no more peer pressure for one thing. Another woman interviewed at the age of nearly 120 was asked to describe her vision for the future and she said, well, it's very brief.

One article talked about traveling to an Asian village, several people in that village live into their 100s but the reporter could find no clue, no secret, no unusual diet, no practice. One woman in Michigan, so you know it's not the weather, right? She's 112. Anybody here from Michigan?

You moved here because you didn't think you could live that long in Michigan, right? She was asked what her secret was and I love this. She said, well, my secret is plenty to eat and plenty of sleep.

We can do that. I'm two for two and then she added and plenty of time to relax and I thought, well, I'm two out of three. One woman was funny, reporter shows up at her door and I couldn't help but laugh when I read what he said. He knocked on her door, she came to the door and he asked her, what is your secret to a long life?

She responded, minding my own business. End of interview right there. Of all the people interviewed who passed their 100th birthday, nothing really unusual surfaced. One person I read never ate bananas. Another person ate a lot of fish.

No one really had a secret formula for living such a long time. Made me wonder, could you imagine this week, perhaps you're gonna plant some flowers as we prepare for the next season. You're out in your backyard and you're digging a hole to plant some flowers in and you turn that sod over and suddenly a little sprout of water, a little fountain of water just springs up one or two inches high and you're mystified especially if you've got the backyard I've got, there's no water anywhere, it's dry, dusty, can't grow anything but there it is, two inches of a water spout and you're sitting there wondering where did that come from and then you notice as the water trickles over, it touches some leaves that have already fallen and those leaves begin to fade right in front of your eyes from brown back to orange and red and then green. You barely breathe in your amazement and then you watch as that water trickles out and you watch and it creates this path of green grass that goes from brown to green in a matter of seconds and you're amazed. Now you're kneeling there and you're not moving and then some of the water has seeped toward you and it's soaked your jeans as you've knelt there and you notice your knees don't ache like they had earlier and you stand up a little quicker than you're used to standing up and you rush into the house and you get a cup and you come back out and you hold it and from that little spout it fills up and you take a sip and immediately you begin to feel rejuvenated. In fact your eyesight goes fuzzy and you take off your glasses and it's clear.

I can't see you so I'm going to put mine back on. You drink a little bit more. You feel strong. You rush into the house. You stand in front of a mirror and the temples they've gone from gray back to auburn or brown and those laugh lines which is a nice way to refer to wrinkles are smoothing out and you realize you have discovered the fountain of youth that wasn't fiction.

After all it's in your backyard. Now what do you do? Well you take another cup full don't you and you drink it. You are invigorated.

I mean you can't believe the strength. Eureka you have found the fountain of youth and you think who am I going to call? What am I going to say? Who am I going to tell? Who am I going to call first? Your pastor. I got laughter every hour. I don't know why that's funny.

You'd call me first and then when you gather around your family wouldn't you grab a cup maybe put a lid on it and rush to the hospital where a gravely ill friend is in ICU or to the nursing home where your parent or grandparent are languishing and certainly all of your children your family your household your your friends you'd be on the phone. I have found the fountain of youth. Would you ever consider for a moment covering that fountain back up with that sod and saying you know what it's best left alone and then go plant your flowers. Have we not discovered the fountain of immortality? Have we not found the water of everlasting life never ending when we are immortalized in perfection of holiness and vitality and health and life? Do we really believe that?

Does the church really believe we've found that? Then who are you telling? Are you getting a sip of that to the lips of your children or your family your friends? One survey conducted a number of years ago found that on any given Sunday one out of every four people surveyed would willingly attend the service if they were invited by a friend that represents 79 million more people.

Have you ever invited anyone? Have you ever told them about the fountain of youth in Christ? It's interesting every time I read an evangelistic survey the effectiveness of them I read the same same statistics 85% or more of all the people who come to faith in Jesus Christ have delivered to them the gospel by someone they already know someone they already trust. Jesus Christ is surfacing.

His ministry is going to begin trickling outward. In John chapter one he's been introduced by John the baptizer as the lamb of God. I want you to notice what happens in verse 40. Two of the men who heard John the Baptist preaching that's not John the gospel writer different man John the baptizer is preaching and they've heard the introduction. Jesus invites them to come verse 39 they came sorry was staying stayed with him that day they heard him teach. There's a volume in between the lines here. Now notice verse 40 one of the two men that is who heard John the Baptist speak and followed Jesus was Andrew that Simon Peter's little brother and notice what happens he Andrew first found his own brother Simon and said to him we have found the Messiah Eureka we have discovered the anointed one the giver of immortality we found him the Greek word in fact translated found we have found the Messiah was used by the Greeks for someone who had found hidden treasure that verb you're a common gives us our English transliterated word I've said it twice already Eureka it carries within it the nuance of joy for the one who's made some startling discovery we have discovered the anointed one and what does Andrew do go back and look again the text tells us he first found his own brother Simon Peter you could translate that action to literally read a little more woodenly he first the first thing he did was find his own brother do you think he went to Simon and he said hey Simon you got a minute I found the giver of eternal life and would you like to meet him it's okay if you don't want to I don't want to offend you I don't want to suggest you don't have eternal life I don't want to bother you but I'll take you to him no it's more like Simon I've discovered the source of eternal life you've got to have a sip come on man drop everything let's go I have found him we need people who cannot keep the gospel to themselves they have discovered the fountain of life and they can't keep it a secret in fact beloved if you do not consider the discovery of Christ all that significant you'll never consider sharing the news of him all that important this past week we had a we had a wonderful conference and each evening a speaker and Erwin Lutzer spoke on Tuesday night many of you know he's no stranger to us he's the pastor of Moody Memorial Church and he told me see when we're celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Moody Church this year 1864 to 2014 and the church to commemorate this significant event put together a book a hardback book and it's just filled with these amazing pictures and I must have spent two hours this week just reading the history of this church think about this in terms of our church 28 years old we're just babes barely out of the woods 150 years of faithful preaching of course the first chapter deals with D. L. Moody the founder of the Illinois Street Church later named after his death Moody Memorial Church the church began and you read it and I've read his biography before but was fascinated all over again and it made me think of this text he just couldn't keep the news of the gospel to himself it didn't seem like older people were all that interested in so he began to tell it to children and this converted shoe salesman is now gathering children he went and told all of them he would go into Chicago the inner city the tenement homes where they're literally packed together in the back alleys places nicknamed drain the side that's literally what it was for the sewage drained and he would invite these children to a Sunday school that he formed that met in his church Plymouth Street Church he's still in his mid 20s and he rented pews now back in that day you didn't have a free seat I'm sure you paid your way in here but you just didn't have a free seat you had to rent your pew families would rent pews individuals would rent seats and so if we did that today it'd be just like today these seats up front would be the most expensive choice seats most of them are empty and the back would be cheap and that's where most people would want to sit but he would rent pews he'd bring in these rowdy dirty street urchins they were called the congregation really didn't like it all that well even though he was renting the pew so Moody realized he needed a move in fact the kids were going to outnumber the church before very long and so he rented a saloon on Sunday and eventually he had over a thousand children and some workers that he recruited he never referred to the children by the way as street urchins he always referred to them as scholars my scholars he would call them all of his life any young person was a scholar as you can imagine this would grow and the children would love him he always seemed to have maple candy in his pocket one of his former students recalled that on Saturday that first Saturday he met Moody knocked on their tenement house door and asked his mother if there were any children there and she said yes I have two he said Moody invited my sister and me to attend his Sunday school the next morning and we agreed and we were fascinated with all that was happening he writes about the teaching and the spirit and the energy of Moody he writes this he was the most energetic fellow you ever saw he would often play games with the boys and he would go home either without a coat because he'd given it away or with his coat so torn and tattered after the games he could not use it again many of these children were saved along with parents and other adults who then wanted of course to attend the children Sunday school and Moody protested telling them they needed to join local churches his Sunday school was not connected to any church but they insisted they weren't welcomed anyway and didn't want to leave them so in 1864 150 years ago with more than a thousand children along with a number of adults 27 year old Dio Moody planted a church and outside the door he hung two rough pieces of wood with simple writing on them by hand one sign read this ever welcome to this house of God are strangers and the poor and the other sign below it read the seats are free shocking he had found the Messiah and he couldn't keep him to himself the one who searched for us until we found him he searched for us until we found him today we need people who aren't over that as we celebrate the sacrifice of our Lord were reminded he is the fountain of everlasting life and by the way the gospel is offered just like Moody's seats freely I need to tell you that this verb appears again in fact it appears near the end of the Bible for the sake of time I'll just tell you this verb that says Andrew found him only on this occasion there will be no joy it's the occasion we call the great white throne because of the description in Revelation chapter 20 and all of the unredeemed of all of human history are gathered before this throne that's suspended in nothingness earth has been destroyed and the heavens this is just prior to the recreation of a new earth in heaven his throne sits upon a sea of glass there's lightning flashing everywhere angels circling his throne just beggars the imagination John the apostle the same one here in this chapter is writing that book of Revelation and he says just before the unbelieving humanity is cast into the lake of eternal fire the sentence reads their names were not found same verb their names were not found written in the Lamb's book of life their names were not found look again look again not found you believe the gospel and you have discovered and drunk deeply from Christ whom you found and your name has been etched into the Lamb's book of life but you reject the gospel you reject the free offer you reject God and your name will not be found Jesus referred to himself in John's gospel as the gift of God living water John 4 10 he said the water that I will give you is a spring of water welling up unto eternal life John 4 14 anything less won't satisfy anything else won't last who are you telling have you effectively taken the sod of your life and well you know what it doesn't matter I'll cover back over this I'm in might we be a little more like Andrew might we be a little more like Moody we just can't keep it to ourselves because he has satisfied us in fact in 1875 while Moody was preparing to celebrate the completion of their new church building a woman by the name of Clara Williams several miles north of Chicago wrote these lyrics all my life long I had panted for a drink from some clear spring that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt within feeding on the husks around me till my strength was almost gone longed my soul for something better only still to hunger on poor I was and sought for riches something that could satisfy but the dust I gathered round me only mocked my soul sad cry Hallelujah I have found him whom my soul so long has craved Jesus satisfies my longings through his blood I now am saved that great last stanza reads taken from this text well of water ever springing bread of life so rich and free untold wealth that never faileth my redeemer is to me and that refrain just rejoices Hallelujah I have found him whom my soul so long has craved Jesus satisfies my longings through his blood I now am saved have you told anybody father thank you for the fact that as believers we know there was an Andrew Moody in our life our lives somewhere a parent teacher a grandparent a friend a neighbor a telecast a program or maybe just reading John who was willing to be used to tell the story someone told us would you give us father fresh enthusiasm for the Eureka discovery we have made in Christ cause us in the quietness of some moment this week perhaps time spent with you each day to recall that if we really do believe that we have found the fountain of everlasting life that we must understand that why we're here it isn't for our career our job it just pays the bills it's to be ambassadors begging the world to be reconciled to you oh God we thank you for the gospel which has marked our hearts and lives forever my friend with heads bowed and eyes closed if you know enough of the gospel have yet not received Christ as your Lord and Savior placing faith in him alone his table is not for you this is this is a table of rededication for believers who come to confess and make a right anything that's wrong and reestablish the lines of fellowship as they ought to be as we remember our Savior our fountain but as we say nearly every time we're at this point if you would give your heart and life to Christ find this one who is ever ready to be found believe the gospel and partake you've been listening to wisdom for the heart and your Bible teacher is Stephen Davey Stephen is the teaching pastor of the shepherd's church in Cary North Carolina he first delivered this message to the church during a communion service but the invitation he gave at the end is also an invitation to you if you've never placed your faith in Jesus Christ you can do that today and I hope you will if you'd like more information on understanding the gospel we have a resource to help you it's a simple and clear explanation of the gospel that we call God's wisdom for your heart this resource will help you if you'd like to understand more about the gospel if you'd like printed copies to be able to share we have those available if you visit wisdom online.org you can navigate to our store and find this resource there we sell it in bundles so you'll have plenty to share with your family and friends really anyone who needs the message of hope that Jesus Christ brings this resource is also available for you to read on our website you can go there anytime there's a header at the top of our site that says free resources the third way you can find this resource is on our smartphone app if you install the wisdom international app there's a link right on the home screen that says gospel you can click that link and it'll open right up that makes it very convenient if you're out and about and you want to share the gospel with someone once again the name of our app is the name of our ministry wisdom international that app is available to you free of charge in the itunes and google play stores so however you choose to access this resource i hope you'll do that today you can get printed copies to share with others you can read it on our website or you can access it from our smartphone app before i leave you i do want to tell you a little bit more about the wisdom international app it's a resource filled with content that's going to help you walk wisely through life everything you find there is designed to help you know what the bible says understand what it means and apply it to your life steven's been teaching god's word for over four decades the archive of all of his lessons and sermons is available on that app we also have a daily devotional that you'll find there as well as a bible reading plan and i'll mention this once again you'll find the wisdom international app in both the itunes and the google play stores download it today then make plans to join us back here next time steven will have another message from god's word on wisdom for the heart you