I AM Series | Episode 3 | I am the bread - Anyone who thirsts | John 7:34-44

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37–39 (ESV)

• Story so far
• Last week, we looked at the question Jesus posed the believer? Are you following me because you saw the miracles and were convinced that I am sufficient or are you following me because you got he blessings and want more? This week we shall dwell into this topic even deeper. Also we been looking at John. John said "The word became flesh and tabernacled among us" John 1:14

• Timeline: 
• The book of John is not a literal or chronological narrative. The aim of the author is to explain who Jesus is and why is Jesus the reason for life.
• This is evidently seen in the gap in between John 6 and John 7. john chapter 6  takes place in April when the first harvest is going on. The seventh chapter takes place in the Autumn just after the second harvest. How do we know this? In chapter 6, it says that the Passover was at hand. It can be that the Passover was approaching, or is going on or just ended. This also shows us why there were many people who were willing to follow Jesus to hear him speak. It was spring, these people were on a journey to or from the Passover and may have been travelling and could spend the night out in the fields. This was a good camping time. 

 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,1 is the Lord’s Passover. Leviticus 23:5

• The next chapter, chapter 7 of john says Jesus went to Galilee and would not go to Judea because the Jews were waiting to kill him. This means Jesus spend a few months (7???) in Galilee before we look at the next verse. The next verse says the festival of Booths or tabernacle was at hand. 

On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths5 to the Lord. Leviticus 23:33

• This is shown in the next two verses showing Jesus's reluctance to go to Judea. Yet he went.
• The festival of booths was unlike the Passover a festival of great joy and celebration. 

• The Celebration: 

• On the seventh day, people would hold a branch of the mryle tree , palm and a willow tree together in he right hand, and barks of citrus tree in the left and recite Ps 113-118 and end with Ps 118:24-29 as the priest lead the people around from the pool of Siloam with golden pitcher of water and pour it on the altar using a funnel. This was to remind the people of the times in the desert God gave water, showing that God is the provider and he will send his rain on the land and harvest.

37 s“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, 38 tbesides the Lord’s Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

39 “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ugathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 And vyou shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and wyou shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. 41 xYou shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 yYou shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43 that zyour generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 23:37-43

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44 “But now hear, O Jacob my servant, Israel whom I have chosen! 2 Thus says the LORD who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams. 5 This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’s,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and name himself by the name of Israel.” Isaiah 44:1–5 (ESV):

• This is when Jesus stood and said he key verse of this day --- Whoever believes in me, from his heart will flow rivers of living water.

• Psalms 113-118
• Ps 113: God is unique - God is Holy, God is caring 
• Ps 114: God is powerful, the waters trembled, God turned rock into a pool of water
• The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:5.6
• Ps 115: Glory belongs to God, Israel trust in the Lord, It is God who is your blessing- Idols are worthless
• Ps 116: God gives us rest,God will hear us, we will give thanks to God 
• Ps 117: God is faithful and loving
• Ps 118: God is mighty
• The Lord has done it this very day let us rejoice today and be glad.25 Lord, save us!    Lord, grant us success!26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.    From the house of the Lord we bless you.27 The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us.With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession    up to the horns of the altar.28 You are my God, and I will praise you;    you are my God, and I will exalt you.29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

• Minimum requirement
• What is the minimum requirement that we need to have to quench our thirst? A source of drinkable water. In the same manner, we need to see the reason for our faith. What has God called us into? Remember, the purpose of the election. It is to be a people unto God. The purpose of God has never changed. God made Adam in His Image - his authority, his breath - God placed man in the garden to rule it, to execute the presence of God in the garden. Brothers, do you understand what this role means? It is the same role of an viceroy.  This is what Adam threw away, this is what Easu threw away, the right to be in presence of God. Easu threw it away even before the meal when he ended up marring women after his desire. This is what God called Israel as a nation into - a nation , a kingdom of priests unto Him. What is the minimum requirement to stand in front of a holy perfect One? - being Holy.
• Desire to be Holy
• Brothers, we need to cultivate in us this desire. The desire to be Holy. We have been looking at his portion for a few weeks. We saw that we have to be prepared with the full armour of God - previously we saw that we have to lead a righteous life, but in short all these passages say one thing. We have to desire to be Holy? Why? God gives us no other choice. We either live in sin and die in sin or we live in Holiness and be raised in holiness.

Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 20:7
For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16 
Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

• The 3 things people did that time
• look back: they remembered and celebrated God, they remembered the scriptures we read, they remembered that there was God who stood in front of the rock to provide water. They remembered their promises to God and his covenant to them.
• look today: they are going to their most important season, the monsoon season. In the first of the I AM series we saw that the Egyptians looked and prayed to different gods for rain and Nile and so on. They saw this sign and said, no, we will not pray to any idol. We have only one God. This was particularity important. It was after this festival that the hot summer was over and the Israel would begin planting. This was where they looked for the first rain. The early rain where their crop would be watered. After this was the winter.  This rain was needed that they live the next year. This rain was light and brought life to the plants. 
• look ahead: They waited not only for the first rain, but also for the latter rain. This prepared the land again. This was a promise that they would have to wait on. But the Bible also talks about these rains in a spiritual manner. 

Let us acknowledge the LORD;let us press on to acknowledge him.As surely as the sun rises,he will appear;he will come to us like the winter rains,like the spring rains that water the earth. Hosea 6:3 

Ask rain from the LORD at the time of the spring rain – The LORD who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man. Zechariah 10:1 

So rejoice, O sons of Zion, and be glad in the LORD your God; for He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before. Joel 2:23

28 It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. 29 Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. 30 I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. 32 And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD Will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem There will be those who escape, As the LORD has said, Even among the survivors whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:28-32

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. 2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. 3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. 4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. 5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. 6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. 8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.. Ezekiel 47:1-9

 “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness. Zechariah 13:1

See how rich the event is, so much of the Bible is filled in the place. The people are energetic, happy,praising God, remembering God and looking at the future when Jesus says "If you are thirsty, come to me and drink"

Jesus is saying, "People, the reason you celebrate the festival is to remember that God lived in your midst. Here I AM. I am in your Midst. I am the Rock that brought out water, I am the tabernacle. You pour out water at the altar to show there is God whose Spirit will flood the earth, here is the water you need. This is the Spirit"

Three things Jesus does here:

1. He knows we thirst
2. He is the only one who provides this water and freely
3. He knows that we will be quenched

The three things Jesus is:

• Rock - The source - He invites us to this fountain, to this Spring, this source - not a bottled water that we can drink when we need to, but a place where we always have to be at.

And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4 ESV

• He invites us to this experience: Living with Him - tabernacled - This is the free offer of the gospel

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Revelation 22:17

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; Isaiah 55:1-3

[It is sometimes objected that the doctrine of limited atonement makes the preaching of a full and free salvation impossible. This is wholly untrue. The salvation accomplished by the death of Christ is infinitely sufficient and universally suitable, and it may be said that its infinite sufficiency and perfect suitability grounds a bonafide offer of salvation to all without distinction…. The criticism that the doctrine of limited atonement prevents the free offer of the gospel rests upon a profound misapprehension as to what the warrant for preaching the gospel and even of the primary act of faith itself really is. This warrant is not that Christ died for all men but the universal invitation, demand and promise of the gospel united with the perfect sufficiency and suitability of Christ as Savior and Redeemer. What the ambassador of the gospel demands in Christ’s name is that the lost and helpless sinner commit himself to that all-sufficient Savior with the plea that in thus receiving and resting upon Christ alone for salvation he will certainly be saved. And what the lost sinner does on the basis of the warrant of faith is to commit himself to that Savior with the assurance that as he thus trusts he will be saved. What he believes, then, in the first instance is not that he has been saved, but that believing in Christ salvation becomes his. The conviction that Christ died for him, or in other words, that he is an object of God’s redeeming love in Christ, is not the primary act of faith. It is often in the consciousness of the believer so closely bound up with the primary act of faith that he may not be able to be conscious of the logical and psychological distinction. But nevertheless the primary act of faith is self-committal to the all-sufficient and suitable Savior, and the only warrant for that trust is the indiscriminate, full and free offer of grace and salvation in Christ Jesus (John Murray, “Arminianism and the Atonement”).]

• The sender of the Holy Spirit:  Jesus says, from the belly the waters will flow out - reminds of the flowing water in Ezekiel and Joel when someone is Spirit lead. They desire more of God - their presence their interaction will not only change them, but the world around them. The sea will be made into fresh water that will be with life. So is the life of a believer. Whay does if say that Jesus had not been glorified? - You see, the Holy Spirit is God and if He has to live in you, you have to Holy. This is only done by Jesus's sacrifice.

How do we do this?

• Look back
• See that we were thirsty, and if there is someone who feels like they need this water again, do not rededicate your life, just dedicate your life. Forget the fact that you did dedicate, you have moved away, so just dedicate your life. See how God saved you. See that He was good and sufficient. Count your blessings. Seek and prize your salvation. 

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. 2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, 4 while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. Hebrews 2:1-4

 

• Look Today
• We need to trust God for today's problems. Each day has its own issues. So trust God for this day. Ask God to lead you. Know that you will be quenched

See the whole chapter of Isaiah 55

• Look Ahead
• We need the Holy Spirit. Ask God to fill you with this desire. Earnestly seek spiritual gifts. A Christian who walks a christian life without the close and experiential presence of the Holy Spirit is someone trying to drive a car without fuel. You may have a small car or a big one,shiny with theological background. But if you strain to drive it, you will struggle. You may push the car and it may roll, but that is not what a car is designed for. Seek the Holy Spirit. Prayer is boring and hard if it is not done with the Holy Spirit, Bible study is theoretical and mundane if we do not seek the Holy Spirit. Spiritual warfare is impossible when we do not seek the Spirit. Sit and seek the Holy Spirit. This is how we drink on God. Paul is saying, don’t be intoxicated with alcohol, but be intoxicated with God! His words confront each of us with the penetrating question, “Are you intoxicated with God?” 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own ... 1 Corinthians 6:19 

 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:21-22

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. James 5:7 

And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. Revelation 21:6

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. Revelation 21:17

Wait , the Lords coming is near. Therefore, then, earnestly ask for the Holy Sprit and be filled with Him.