Come and Drink
By: Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-BrownePublish date: 07/23/2023
Foundation Scriptures:In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39 KJV
1. Conditions for Receiving.
a. On the final and most important day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus preached a key message on the Holy Spirit, that we still need to hear today.
b. There are so many wonderful spiritual gifts God has for us, but they are conditional, and we must meet them, to appropriate (receive; take) them.
c. These conditions are not difficult or challenging—because Jesus already fulfilled the difficult part for us.
d. We must come to God, humbly, by faith, and receive His gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit, and all He has to offer us.
2. Thirst.
a. “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.”
b. We must be thirsty for God.
c. We must have a desire for Him and toward Him.
d. Many people are too satisfied with what the world has to offer—or they do not know that anything better is available.
e. They are thirsty, but either have not recognized their thirst, or do not know what to do to quench it.
f. To be thirsty means to have a need: an eager longing, craving, or desperate yearning to have that which will fulfill that longing.
g. When you thirst for the Lord, you long for, are eager for, and passionately crave Him and His presence; the fullness of the Holy Spirit; and those things that refresh, support, and strengthen your soul.
h. We must cultivate a thirst for God and a desire for the fullness of the Spirit (Psalm 42:2, 63:1, 143:6, Isaiah 41:17, 44:3).
i. Psalm 63:1 KJV –– O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.
j. Isaiah 44:3 KJV –– For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.
3. Come Unto Me.
a. “Come unto Me…”
b. Coming to Jesus involves complete surrender of your life and heart to Him.
c. Isaiah 55:1 AMPC –– Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].
d. It is the self-surrender that is the price for the fullness of the blessings of God.
e. It means surrender of your life, more and more, to do the full will of God, as you walk in greater revelation of Him and His Word and His plan for you (Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 11:28-30; 1 John 1:7).
4. Drink.
a. “Come unto Me, and drink…”
b. Jesus told the woman at the well: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14 KJV).
c. The Lord makes the water of life freely available to those who desire it from wells and springs that never run dry (Revelation 21:6, 22:17).
5. Believe On Me.
a. “Believe on Me as the Scripture has said.”
b. We believe on Jesus.
c. We believe His Word is True.
d. We believe in everything the Word says about Jesus—Who He is and what He has done for us.
e. We believe in all God’s promises to us.
f. We believe and act on what He tells us to do.
g. We believe and become obedient, to the letter, the whole Gospel program (John 14:12-15; Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:15-20; Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-8, 5:32).
h. Acts 5:32 KJV –– And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
6. The Promise of the Holy Spirit.
a. “…out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
b. Jesus was speaking of the blessing of the fullness of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was available to all, after Jesus was raised from the dead.
c. All those who believe on Him could be baptized—overwhelmed (by); filled to the full; immersed; infused—with the Holy Spirit.
d. Belly (Greek koilia) — the innermost part of a man; the heart; the soul as the seat of thought, feeling, choice; emotion, and will.
e. When we are full of the Holy Spirit, out of our belly—or innermost being—flows a river of living water.
f. This is a constant and consistent flow of the Spirit, without measure, as long as we keep drinking of Him.
g. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 5:18 not to be drunk on wine, wherein is excess, dissipation, debauchery, profligacy, prodigality, wickedness (corruption, stupidity), riot, reckless living, depravity, wild living, loss of control, unsavedness, and/or an abandoned, dissolute life.
h. Instead, we are to be being filled; to be continually filled; filled to overflowing, with the Holy Spirit; controlled, stimulated, and guided by Him.
i. This is a river of life and a river of refreshing that flows from the presence of the Lord (Isaiah 28:11-12; Acts 3:19).
j. Come.
k. Drink.
l. Be filled to overflowing.