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, it was a salesman, and the man dying of thirst reached up 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, ok, ok, two four 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. The man on the camel said, I can’t help you. I don’t have any water—just ties. And he rode 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. 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. 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. 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 the 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, remember the story? 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 gonna 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? 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 2 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 phenomenon 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; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know. 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?”

Ok, 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 is trying to find Jesus because they want to kill Him because they say that He’s claiming to be their Messiah. 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. It was written in the Babylonian Talmud. Rabbi Zara said the Messiah will come unaware. Just like show up and nobody will know His background, His genealogy, or where He’s from. We know where this guy’s from so He can’t be it. So they’re confused about Him. now sometime later, Trypho 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 Him.

Let’s look at the second group. 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 send. “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 while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me and not find Me, and 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 said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?” Now these are the officers. The officials sent by the Pharisees to arrest Jesus. 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 gonna 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 gonna go find pockets of Greek culture where there are Jews. He’s gonna 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. 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 gonna 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 where the Bible always encourages us to make choices now. Today. While we have the opportunity. Don’t let it slip by. Classic passage, 2 Corinthians 6: Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time. Here is 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 have 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 group that we want to look at. Go down now to 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 the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was? So there was a division among 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!” Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or 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, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.” Think they like Galileans? Nah, they don’t. “And everyone went to his own house.”

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: 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. Ok, so, so here’s what I discovered I’m going through this. A very, even slight, just a little bit of incentive, could’ve solved the problem. All they would have to do is just ask a few people questions because Bethlehem’s 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’ve 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 who, 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. Oooh. 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 Galilee. Sounds pretty authoritative, doesn’t it? Search! Look! Check it out! There’s been no prophet out of Galilee. So, it, 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? Galilee. Gath Epher. He was born in Gath Epher. Five miles from Nazareth, where Jesus was raised, incidentally. Search and look—there’s been no prophet that’s come out of Galilee. Bzzz… 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 and la, la, la, la… that’s how they live their lives. They don’t want any other input—and they’re thirsty.


Here’s a group of people, a few different groups of people, all of this confusion reveals their thirst, their Messianic thirst. They have longed for a deliverer. Now here’s something I want you to note. It’s true historically. After the captivity, when they came back from Babylon and settled in Israel again, there was a growing Messianic thirst. Deliverer—we want a deliverer. We want somebody, that Messiah promised, we want Him to come. And then when the Romans occupied their land, which is the setting here, that thirst heightened to, I’m gonna say, almost a fever pitch. There’s a book called The History of Messianic Speculation in Israel. Long title. By a rabbi, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, and he says, and I quote: Prior to the first century, C.E., of the Christian era, Messianic interest was not excessive. But the first century, especially the generation before the destruction of the second temple [that’s this exact time] witnessed a remarkable outburst in Messianic emotionalism.


So that’s what I want you to understand about this crowd of people: officers, Jerusalemites, visitors. There was this heightened thirst and expectation. Messiah… the Messiah… we want Him to come… but who is He? In steps the Messiah. In their midst. In the temple. And they’re looking at each other talking neckties when He offers them the water of life. Just think back one chapter, one chapter, chapter 6. That group in Galilee, some of them are here at the Feast, wanted to take Jesus by force and make Him a what? King. Deliverer. Their Messianic king. Jesus didn’t come to be a king, a politician. He came to be their Savior first of all. But they’re so thirsty that I’m gonna say they’re dehydrated.


I don’t know if you know about dehydration but it affects the way people think and how they react. I did a little bit of study this week and followed the process of a person who is really thirsty and thirsting to death. Stage number one: udypsia. Udypsia is the normal, everyday, common thirst. It’s where you go, I’m thirsty. You recognize you need some water. Now if you don’t get water and you keep that up, you’ll enter phase number two: hyperdypsia. And these are intense, though temporary, bouts of extreme thirst. If you still don’t get water over a period of time, you’ll enter into stage number three which is polydypsia. This is a sustained, intense craving but it’s the stage, and this is why it’s called polydypsia, it’s the stage at which a person will drink anything to quench their thirst. They’ll look at ocean water, knowing it’s salt, and they’ll drink it because they’ve become almost delusional wanting to quench that thirst.


These people are dehydrated. They’re willing to gravitate to any, um, idea of what their Messiah ought to be based on folklore, etcetera, etcetera, having never tasted from the refreshing well of Christ. All they can do is, in their confusion, speculate.


Well things haven’t changed for 2,000 years. Think of all of the different wells people are willing to drink out of to satisfy the thirst that every human being has. Money. I get enough money, I’ll be satisfied. Sex. If I have enough sex, I’ll be really happy. Status. Substance—drugs, alcohol. People do these things to, to kill the pain and to bring satisfaction. Ironically, none of them ever do bring satisfaction, do they? In fact, not only do they not satisfy, they’re poisonous. They create a deeper intense longing that that experience just accentuates but never satisfies. It’s easy to prove. Ask the drug addict. Somebody who’s now addicted to drugs, who started taking them just because it felt so good. Now they’re addicted. Hey, how’s that satisfaction thing going for you? Not too good. Ask the alcoholic addicted to that substance. Ask the sex addict or the person addicted to power or money who’s chasing that rabbit. Hey, how’s that satisfaction thing going for you? Not too well.


Max Lucado tells us why in his fine book The Applause of Heaven. He writes: False fountains pacify our cravings with sugary swallows of pleasure. That’s so descriptive. Sugary swallows of pleasure. But there comes a time when pleasure doesn’t satisfy. There comes a dark hour in every life when the world caves in and we’re left trapped in the rubble of reality, parched and dying. We are very thirsty. But not for fame, possession, passion, or romance. We’ve drunk from those pools. They are salt water in the desert. They don’t quench. They kill. No, we’re thirsty for a clean conscience. We crave a clean slate. We yearn for a fresh start. The problem is the treasures of the earth don’t satisfy. The promise is the treasures of heaven do satisfy. So number one is the crowd—all those people.


Now listen to the promise and that is found in verse 37. Thirsty people are called. “On the last day, that great day of the feast,” ok, stop right there. I’ve got to give you the setting so that you understand the impact of what you’re about to read. Because otherwise you just read it and go, yeah, yeah, yeah, ok, cool. But you’ve got to get the impact. Here’s the setting. It’s the Feast of what? Tabernacles or booths. It’s a seven day feast. It lasted all week long. Every day, every morning, thousands of people go up to the temple area, the courts, and they’d be met by a priest. Now the people when they came, they had in their left hand a piece of citrus fruit, symbolic of the fruitful land that God gave them. in their right hand, they had branches of three different trees: a palm branch, a willow branch, and a myrtle branch, or pieces of it, emblematic of the stages of the wilderness wanderings before they got into the Promised Land. So citrus fruit; foliage. Thousands of them are there. They’re singing songs. The priest meets them. he has a golden pitcher. They all take a procession from the temple area down to the pool of Siloam. The priest takes the golden pitcher, dips it in the water of the pool of Siloam, marches back up to the temple, they’re singing psalms, he takes the water and pours it on the stones of the altar. And as they witness this, the crowd sings in unison a passage from Isaiah chapter 12 that says: with joy you will draw waters from the well of salvation. Now the pouring of the water was symbolic of the water that God gave from the rock itself in the desert, remember the story? So that was their daily routine. But on the last day of the Feast, the final day, it says that great day of the Feast; see what it says in verse 37, that great day? Something different happened. What happened is the people would meet at the temple, the priest would meet them there, they’d go to Siloam, they’d get the water, they’d come back, they’d do the deal but the priest would march around the altar not once, but seven times on the last day. Seven times. Why seven times? Well they marched around Jericho seven times before they entered the land. As they were entering, and that was the first place, so seven times around the altar, they’re singing psalms, fruit in one hand, branches in the other hand, singing Isaiah 12 with joy you will draw water from the well of salvation. But this time, on the sixth march around the altar, the priest with the golden pitcher was met by another priest with a pitcher of wine. Water and wine. Wine symbolic of joy. God has given us joy—refreshment! Then the priest with the pitcher of water would ascend the steps of the altar. As he would get up and start walking, every step the people shouted louder and louder. And then he would pause at the top and lift the pitcher of water up slowly and with every little millimeter of movement the crowd shouting would get louder and louder and louder until the pitcher was at the very top that that priest could reach, then there was a hush over the crowd. Ok. That’s the last day of the feast. That’s what’s happening.


So can you picture that in your mind? Pitcher goes up, pitcher goes up, there’s a hush now over the crowd. Now let’s read. “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” Can you imagine how powerful at that exact moment spiritually and psychologically the impact that would have on the crowd? “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”


Please notice it doesn’t say that Jesus stood up and said something to them. He didn’t say anything—He cried out. Crodzo is the word. It’s the cry of a raven. It’s when somebody has to shout so loud as to command attention. There’s a big crowd there. He doesn’t have a PA system and that hush over the crowd has fallen, but there’s a huge crowd. And so Jesus cries out, if anyone is thirsty! All the heads go… choom. And they’re staring at Him. He has commanded their attention. I love this fact that Jesus commands the scene. He’s not some anemic milk toast Messiah. He has a loud voice and He commands and controls the situation. And in that, He makes a promise.


Thirsty people are called. Number one, to take the plunge and to get refreshed. Look at the promise in verse 37: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” There’s three words that sum it up: thirst, come, drink. First thing that is necessary is you have to realize you’re thirsty. Because only thirsty people drink water. Only people who know they have a spiritual need ever seek to get it refreshed. You know, there’s a lot of people that go through their lives and every experience they, they encounter, everyday—they’re not satisfied. They’re just thirstier. They’re thirstier and thirstier and… look at life and honestly, there are some people, life is just insipid and bland and tasteless and whatever. They’ve come to that point.


You know, there was a point in my life when, after moving to New Mexico, I got so used to the food here that no other food would quite do it. Anybody know what I’m talking about? So I first came here and the food is like way too hot. I couldn’t eat this stuff. Then it’s like a transformation took place. This food is so good, you go anywhere else and every other food is boring! Where’s the chile? Where’s the red or green? It got so bad, I kid you not, I’d travel with little bottles of Tabasco sauce or chile powder because I had to have the kick. Food just didn’t taste good—it was bland. Life is bland. People are thirsty. But they have to recognize that thirst.


Second word: come. “If anyone is thirsty, let him come”. Here’s Jesus. He’s saying I’m here. Now come. Make the move. You’ve come to this ceremony in the temple, now come to Me. Third word is drink. This speaks of receiving Christ personally, not ceremonially, not superficially—personally. When you drink, it’s personal. I can easily demonstrate that. That didn’t do you any good. Sure tasted great to me. Because drinking stuff is personal, right? The idea of drinking Christ or drinking from this living water is, is personally coming and placing your faith in Him. If I stand here and I’m holding this water and I announce to you, man, I’m so thirsty! I’m really thirsty! Eventually, you’re gonna say drink! Because having this water and not drinking does me no good whatsoever. You may have come—but are you drinking? Are you personally taking in that refreshment? You recognize you’re thirsty. You’ve come. But are you drinking? And notice anyone can do it. Notice it says in verse 37: “If anyone thirsts”. I love this. There’s no social, educational issues that are involved. Young, old—anyone. Male, female—anyone. Educated, uneducated—anyone. “Anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.”


Look at the last two verses. I’m gonna show you something that I think may surprise you. I say surprise you because this is where most people end their thinking. They’re thinking, yes, I’ve heard this before. If I come to Jesus Christ, I’ll be satisfied. And that’s sort of where we preach the gospel and stop. Come to Christ and you’ll be satisfied. Oh, friend, that’s just the beginning. We just have gotten started. It’s so much more than about you being satisfied. First 38: “He who believes in Me”. Show of hands, honest show of hands right now, how many in this room believe in Christ? Show me your hands. Ok, great. Put them down. That means this is for all of us. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Wow! Did you get that? The promise isn’t just that we’ll be blessed. The promise is that we’ll become a blessing to others.


Here’s the point. Don’t just be a gulper. Be a gusher. See, God never intended that we just store up this pool of living water, salvation, truth. Because it’ll stagnate. Living, flowing, abundant streams that come out from us. Now this is where modern Christianity, in my opinion, is highly lacking because modern evangelical Christianity has made it all about your sad, poor life and you need to come to Jesus and really live the life and really be satisfied. And it’s almost as if some people believe Jesus never really said seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be added to you. It’s as if some people believe He said, seek first to be personally contented and personally satisfied, and if you have any time at all left over, and it’s not too terribly inconvenient for any of you, could you please do something for the kingdom of God? Right? No, He said come to Me and be satisfied. That’s just the first step. Now come and be a conduit to export the water that has gone into your life into the lives of others.


You know, there’s three kinds of faith. Three kinds of faith. Let’s see which one you are. First of all, there’s faulty faith. Faulty faith is the faith of the unbeliever. He hasn’t personally committed himself to Christ. He may believe there’s a God. He may believe there’s a Christ. But he’s there, like the crowd, confused. That’s faulty faith. This is the faith of the demons. Doesn’t the Bible say the demons believe and do what? They tremble. So every demon in hell knows God is real, knows Jesus Christ is the answer, knows that if you come to Him by faith your sins will be forgiven. They know that. That’s faulty faith. They haven’t done anything about it.


Number two, there’s firm faith. That’s where you trust, not in yourself, not in your religious stuff, but you trust wholly in Christ and His finished work for your salvation. Now you’re on a firm foundation. That’s called justification. That’s firm faith. You have faulty faith; you have firm faith. Every single Christian has firm faith. If you truly believe in Christ, that’s firm faith.


But there’s a third. It’s called flowing faith. Flowing faith. That is where the Holy Spirit empowers you to pass on this refreshing gift to other people. So here’s my question: do you have flowing faith? Are you saved? I’m saved. Are you satisfied? Very. Great. Now what are you doing with it? Are you sent? Are there rivers of living water? Are you showing that satisfaction to other people? And they go, I, I want that. In fact, I’m gonna submit this to you. I believe this with all my heart. Your satisfaction contentment level never gets higher than when you make it not about you and all about Him and all about His kingdom and you become an instrument to lead others to Christ. The joy level is outrageous when you’re part of that enterprise.


There’s a commercial and you’ve seen it, I know. I can’t escape it. It’s cleverly written though it’s a beer commercial. It’s a Dos Equis commercial. It’s called “The Most Interesting Man in the World”. Has anybody ever seen it? Ok. You can’t escape it. It’s everywhere. And here’s this bearded guy, sort of middle aged, he’s the most interesting man in the world and they say, the most interesting man in the world. His personality is so magnetic; he can’t even carry credit cards. These outlandish claims. Or the most interesting man in the world: even his enemies carry his phone number as an emergency contact. And the most interesting man in the world, in this commercial, always ends every commercial by saying? Stay thirsty, my friends. That’s the big tag line. Stay thirsty, my friends. Here is the most refreshing Man in the world—Jesus. And He doesn’t say stay thirsty, My friends. He says get your thirst quenched, My friends. I’ll quench your thirst. And you will be satisfied and be satisfying to other people. You may have been drinking from every conceivable well out there—and wholly unsatisfied. Standing next to a waterfall dying of thirst.


I close with a little, um, bit from C.S. Lewis’ book The Silver Chair. You know I love C.S. Lewis. His Chronicles of Narnia, the book The Silver Chair, hosts Aslan the lion and a girl named Jill and Jill sees Aslan, freaks out, and runs away. Like a lot of people run away from Christ. She’s running away, she runs so far, so hard, that she’s dying of thirst. She’s out in the forest somewhere. Aslan is there. Here’s the story: Are you not thirsty? Said the lion. I’m dying of thirst. Said Jill. May I, could I, would you mind going away while I drink? Said Jill. The lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. As Jill gazed at this momentous bulk, she realized she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic. Will you promise not to do anything to me if I do come? Said Jill. I make no promise. Said the lion. Jill was so thirsty that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. Do you eat girls? She asked. I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings, emperors, cities, and realms. Said the lion. He didn’t say it as if he were boasting or as if he were sorry or as if he were angry. He just said it. I dare not come and drink. Said Jill. Then you will die of thirst. Said the lion. Oh dear! Said Jill, coming another step nearer. I suppose I must go look for another stream then. There is no other stream. Said the lion. It never occurred to Jill to just believe the lion. No one had ever seen the stern face could ever do that and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up the water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she ever tasted.


Here’s the message. If you’re gonna come to drink of refreshing water, you come on the Lion’s terms. You come on Aslan’s terms. You come on Christ’s terms. Here He is in their midst. I am the living water. If you drink, you’ll be refreshed. But you must thirst, you must come, and you personally must drink.