Do You Have A Saviour?

Well friends, ever since I've had my stroke, I believe it's changed the way I preach. Since my reliance is more and more upon Christ Jesus for all things to get me through the day, I must not make this time futile by wearing myself out trying to convince you to repent and turn to Christ or wind up in a devil's hell. Rather, I'll turn it over to the Holy Spirit to do the convincing work, since that's his job anyway.

And I begin this message by saying, I believe the church has its problems in regard to evangelism today. The modern church, in its mad dash to expand its campus numerically, often puts the cart before the horse, so to speak, in issues in emotional appeal to come to Christ before ever proclaiming what the gospel really is. Listen friends, the gospel fundamentally is not an invitation for men to do anything.

Rather, the gospel is a declaration of what God has done in Christ on the cross for their salvation in his glory. But once that proclamation is clearly made, then men must respond to receive a revealed Christ. Well, let's take a closer look as to which I speak.

Open your Bibles to the gospel of John and we can get down to cases. Turn to chapter 7 in John's gospel. We will be in verses 37 through 38.

Let me read this to us at this time. Here now is the word of God, and may the spirit of God attend the reading of his holy word. This is the Lord Jesus speaking here in our text.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Well, that's striking imagery, isn't it friends? But what does it mean? Jesus is saying in essence, if any man, meaning no restrictions, it can be any rich man or any poor man.

It can be any important man or any not so important man. But he is addressing men in general, in a specific type of man particularly. Well, let's look and see what God says about man.

God says that man is a sinner. For in Romans 3.23 we read, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible says all, all men are sinners.

I'm a sinner. You are a sinner. Young man, young lady, you are a sinner.

You kids over there, you are sinners. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken something that didn't belong to you? Well, I rest my case. That's stealing.

Have you lusted in your heart? We aren't sinners because we sin, so much rather we sin because we are big sinners. Look at how God describes man in his word, as seen in the book of Job. In Job 15.16, God declares, how much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water.

That simply means man can't get enough of sin. He drinks it like water. Why? Because man is born with a ruined nature and bent toward sin.

You can trace that back to the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sinned. My father and his father were born in the likeness of Adam. I'm a sinner and I need a substitute for sin.

And so do you, friend. So do you. What is sin? Sin is disobeying God's word.

It is missing his mark. If you look at Isaiah 53.6, we'll find the shortest definition of sin. Listen to this.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. Sin is going our way when we know it isn't God's way.

Is that simple enough, friend? Well, what does Jesus have to say about it? Listen to his words from Luke 5.32. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. So let's apply this to our text in John chapter 7. Let's cross out the word man and replace it with the word sinner. Now let's read it again.

If any sinner thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Meaning, you must feel your need of a Savior for sin. What does God say to us about it? In Isaiah 1.18, we read, Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they should be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they should be as wool. Why? Well, what does the old hymn say? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

And God declares the gospel, the good news of salvation in Christ. We see this in 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10. In this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be a propitiation for our sins. God declares man is a sinner and Jesus is a Savior from sin. Now friends, let's return to our text and put this in proper context.

Here is Jesus at a religious festival. The festival is the Feast of Tabernacles, which was one of three great Jewish religious festivals, the others being Passover and Pentecost. It was called the Feast of Tabernacles because for seven days, people came from miles around to live in makeshift shelters or lean-tos made of palm branches and leaves.

The feast commemorated the days when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness and lived in tents. The festival ran from the 15th of September to October and the last day of the feast was one of great joy and celebration and that's where we find Jesus in our text today. It was when a priest took a golden pitcher filled with water from the pool of Siloam and carried it to the temple with people following him with palm branches where they would march around the great altar with great rejoicing and then he would pour the water on the altar as memorial of the water that flowed from the rock and perhaps I can just see it in my mind as he poured the golden pitcher full of water on the altar.

That's the cue for Jesus to stand up and Jesus stands up and his voice rings out if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water meaning eternal life. Those three words are a gospel invitation friend thirst come drink Jesus saves Jesus saves in another place in John 14 6 Jesus declares I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me here Jesus answers the three greatest questions of the human heart how can I be saved Jesus says I am the way how can I be sure Jesus says I am the truth how can I be satisfied Jesus says I am the life but you must come to him and believe on him the duty required is to come and there's safety in appearing in the righteousness of Christ friends for he has a pure gospel promise to all who come if any man come to me I will no wise cast out I pray that none of us here die outside Christ's saving blood friends hopefully you just haven't heard the shaky voice today of an old preacher but perhaps some of you have heard his voice come with power to you let me ask you are you a sinner do you have a savior flee to the only remedy for sin the Lord Jesus Christ soon he will come in judgment upon the world and then it'll be too late for you shall meet him then as your judge