Thirst Part Two
Quenching the Thirst
John 4:13-14
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
RIVER OF LIFE THEME
Examples:
- Garden of Eden - a physical river
Genesis 2:10 “A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches.”
These four branches are Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates river.
- Vision in Ezekiel 43 - the sound of God’s presence
Ezekiel 43:2 “Suddenly, the glory of the God of Israel appeared from the east. The sound of his coming was like the roar of rushing waters, and the whole landscape shone with his glory.”
- Jesus promises rivers of living water = the Holy Spirit
John 7: 37-39 On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
- John’s angelic encounter - He sees the new heaven and new earth.
Revelation 22:1-2 “Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
Exodus 17 - Water from the Rock
- Sin is bondage; slavery.
- The Israelites are facing a real need. They are thirsty.
- If we are not being filled with the Holy Spirit, then the void is filled with other things.
- Moses obeys God.
- God has a solution when Moses seeks Him.
- God satisfies the thirst of His people.
Q: WHAT CAUSES US TO QUENCH THE FLOW OF THIS RIVER OF LIFE (AKA THE HS) IN OUR LIVES?
Jeremiah 2:13
“For my people have done two evil things:
- They have abandoned me—the fountain of living water.
- And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
ABANDONED GOD - They have abandoned me–the fountain of living water.
Idols - substitutes in our life for God.
Distractions - things that grab our attention and pull our hearts away from Christ.
Offense - blame put on God for something.
CRACKED CISTERNS - And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!
Disobedience - when we think our way is better and that we know better than God; Lack of trust in God’s ways.
Numbers 20 - Moses Strikes the Rock
- Moses disobeys God’s instructions
- God wants obedience that’s walked out through a relationship.
- Relationship flows with the River of Life, the Holy Spirit, alive and at work within us.
- Faith does not operate off of formulas.
- God was trying to develop Moses.
- What quenched it? - Fear, disappointment and sadness; Idols and offense.
- His staff became an idol.
- Moses led with what was familiar–sometimes what works in one season, is not what God is asking from us in the next.
- Christ is the rock
Psalm 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
1 Cor 10:1-6 “I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did,”
“Holiness is not sinlessness; it is the ability to see what is worth protecting and then say no to sin to protect our yes to love.” (Bolz, p. 74)
Reference: Bolz, Shawn. “Translating God.” ICreate Productions, 2015.
