Good morning to everyone. Beautiful fall day. Bobby said, "that's a summer shirt," and I said, "well, I'm trying to hang on because my barn's not done yet." We are on the last Sunday of the month, and we have our communion service the last Sunday of the month, working through the Gospel of John, and we're chapter 7, verses 25 to 39 this morning, still at the Feast of Tabernacles as we see Jesus come to Jerusalem and begin to teach in the temple. 

So at this time, it's only about six months before the next Passover and His crucifixion. We see the hatred of the Jews. We see the rejection of the people and the leaders and the tension mounting concerning this Jesus of Nazareth. What do we do with Jesus? The people are looking for Him at the Feast. The leaders are plotting against Him, and He's speaking truth openly in the temple, and no one lays a hand on Him because His hour has not yet come. 

We will see in our text that the people are confused concerning who Jesus is, confused in their unbelief, and their leaders are no help to them, for their hatred for Jesus consumes them. And Jesus, again, meets rejection, unwilling hearts, unwilling to come to Him to believe Him. We saw this last time from His own brothers. We see it from the crowds and especially the Jewish leaders, and yet Jesus stands in the temple on the last day of the Feast and cries out at the top of His lungs, "Anyone who comes to Me, who believes Me," He gives them a chance to believe. 

This is the heart of God, of Jesus, the Savior of the world, who would soon lay down His life for that very purpose. His time is coming. It has not yet come, and so He slips away. They do not lay a hand on Him, and they miss another opportunity to believe. This is the application for us, for our world today, for the grace of God is still available to every man. The invitation remains in the Gospel, but this time will end, and just as we see for these people, the crowds, the Jews, their time would pass, and the opportunity to believe would be gone, and they would never see Jesus in heaven. 

Today is the day of salvation, and Jesus extends that invitation to believe Him and receive eternal life in the Holy Spirit as rivers of living water flow from within. This is the choice of every man. Will you believe Jesus? And the answer to that question decides every man's eternity. 

Let's look at John 7 at verse 25. 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?" 

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and 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?'" 

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. 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. 

I've given you three points on your outline this morning. First, confusion in unbelief; second, condemnation for unbelief; and third, chance to believe. We see in verses 14 and 15 that Jesus has come to the feast, and about the middle of the feast goes up to the temple to teach. It says, "About the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the temple and taught, and the Jews marveled, saying, 'How does this man know letters, having never studied?'" 

And in our text this morning, He's still engaged in this teaching in the temple. And first we see in our text confusion among the people, confusion in unbelief. The people are greatly confused concerning Jesus because they will not believe. In verse 25, some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill? But look, He speaks boldly, and they do nothing. Do the rulers know, indeed, that this is truly the Christ?" 

And then they go on, "However, we know where this man's from. No one will know where the Christ is from," which is inaccurate. Then Jesus cried out, and He says, "You both know Me, you know where I am from. But 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." 

And they understood what He meant then, because they sought to seize Him. Verse 25 is interesting because it says, "Some from Jerusalem said, 'Isn't this the one they seek to kill?'" But if you look back up at verses 19 to 20, it says, "Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?" And they responded, "You have a demon who is seeking to kill you." 

The difference here is that in our text it says, "Some from Jerusalem." The people who were at the feast from out of town were not as intimately aware of the intention of the leaders, but those who lived in Jerusalem knew their desire to kill Jesus and that they were plotting to do so. And they are shocked that Jesus is standing in the temple, teaching openly, boldly, and no one is doing anything about it. 

And they jest, "Do the rulers know that this is the Christ?" The Greek here demands a negative answer, but they're mocking almost. Verse 27 is a good example of the confusion of the people, of the twisted nature of their religion. They said, "However, we know where this man is from, but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from." 

They developed a doctrine that the Christ would appear dramatically out of nowhere at the temple and no one would know where He was from, but their own scriptures clearly taught that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, that He would be of the line of David. They even say this down in verse 42, "Has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the seat of David and from the town of Bethlehem where David was?" 

So the crowd is confused. They don't believe, they're not willing to believe, so they don't understand what's going on. We see a lot of confusion and still an unwillingness to believe, and we see that they thought that they knew about Jesus. They thought they knew all about Him, where He was from, but Jesus makes it clear they did not know Him at all. 

He cried out as He taught in the temple, "You both know Me and you know where I'm from, and I have not come for 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." Jesus asserts that while the people may know about His earthly origins, they do not truly understand His divine nature or the One who sent Him. 

They knew Jesus was from Nazareth, Galilee. They knew His family, His mother, and brothers and sisters. They knew about Jesus, but they did not know Jesus. This is such an important truth, and it's the same today, only worse and much more widespread in our world. 

Think about the number of churches in our world that claim the name of Christ. Denominations, false cults, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, and on and on it goes. They all know about Jesus. They all know details of His life, things about Him. Some even say the right things, "Lord, Lord, haven't we done many wonderful works in Your name?" What will Jesus say to them? "Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you." 

It seems that everyone in our world knows about Jesus. You hear His name all the time, in truth and in vain. We went, Bobby and I went to the Ducks Unlimited banquet the other night. Some friends of ours invited us, and we went, and we were playing bingo. I told them I hadn't played bingo since I left the Catholic Church. But we were playing bingo, and the woman invited graciously wonderful people, but she's not getting her numbers, and I hear her, "Oh, Jesus." You hear it all the time. 

You hear it everywhere you go, the name of Jesus. They know about Jesus, but how many truly know Him? He's not just a good teacher. He's not a fine example to follow. He's not merely a prophet or a man; He is God. And that is the very thing He asserts in this text. He is from God, and His authority is His Father. His Father sent Him, and He's going back to His Father. 

It says, He cried out in the temple. This word means He yelled at the top of His lungs. He cried out, "You both know me, and you know where I'm from. You know about my birth, my family, my place, where I've come from in Nazareth. But I've not come of myself. He who sent me is true, whom you do not know. But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent me." 

And the Jews understood Him perfectly, what He was claiming, and they sought to lay hands on Him. But it was not His time. I always wonder about that statement. We see that several times. They sought to kill Him, they sought to push Him off a cliff, they sought to lay hands on Him, and then they couldn't touch Him. What happened in that moment? 

You know, were they, and it just wasn't—I mean, it's a strange thing to think about, but they were restrained by God from taking Him. There was confusion in the crowd concerning who Jesus is, but there was not confusion concerning what He claimed or who He claimed to be.

Well, next we see condemnation for unbelief, John 7:32. 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?'" 

Well, these are frightening words of judgment from our Lord. "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me." The opportunity for salvation stood before them. We will see His clear statement that anyone who would come to Him, believe Him, would receive eternal life, but that time was running short for these people because they would not believe and would reject Him, crucify Him, and He would rise again the third day and then ascend to the Father. 

Their time would pass due to their unbelief and they would never go to where He is with the Father in heaven. These words should strike us to our core: "You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come." If you've not believed Jesus, if you've not placed your trust in Him alone and what He accomplished on the cross, His death in your place for your sins, if Jesus is not the only explanation of your faith, then now is the time to turn to the Lord in faith, to turn from your idols, to trust in Jesus alone. 

Today is the day of salvation. Do not harden your hearts as we see these crowds do, and in a few short months they would scream for His blood, "Crucify Him, crucify Him," and they would seal their fate, banned from any opportunity to see the Father's house, but rather to spend eternity in the lake of fire. "You will seek Me and not find Me." It's a frightening statement, and "where I am you cannot come." This is a reality for those who will not believe or who are trusting in something other than Jesus. 

And what a contrast for the one who places his faith in Jesus alone, who knows Him through faith. We think of Mary Ann, our dear friend, sister in Christ, who passed away on Friday morning. I talked to Pastor Friday, and he is sad, and we are sad that Mary Ann is no longer with us. But we also have incredible assurance and joy that she's now with the Lord. 

Why? Because she was a good person? No. Because she was a faithful pastor's wife for 43 years? No. Why do we know that she's in heaven? That is her assurance; she believed Jesus. Think about the difference this truth makes when we lose a loved one, when someone we care so deeply about dies. To know that they know Jesus means everything, and nothing else matters at this point. 

My oldest sister is dying right now. She's been given two weeks to two months. She does not know Jesus. My brothers and sisters, there's no joy there. There's no hope. No hope apart from faith in Jesus. I'm going to go down and preach Mary Ann's funeral in Wausau on Friday. It's gonna be wonderful. Because she knew Jesus, and we know that and we can rejoice. 

I won't be asked to preach my sister's funeral, but if I had to, there would be no joy. There'd be no hope. "You will seek me and not find me. And where I go, you cannot come." Think of the contrast of the verses of comfort and assurance that we read in John 14. "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go, you know the way. You know the way." 

If you do not know the way, your heart should be very troubled. But if you have believed Jesus, take these words of assurance for yourself, these words of comfort and joy and great rejoicing. If it were not so, He would have told us. We can trust Jesus, we can believe Him; He has said it, and He will do it. 

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13, Paul writes, "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord." 

And then he says, "Therefore comfort one another with these words." Therefore comfort one another with these words. His words are comfort, His words are truth, His promises are sure, and in Him, all the promises are yes. 

So we see confusion and unbelief, we see condemnation for unbelief, and finally we see a chance to believe. Verse 37: "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. 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. 

All of this confusion, all of this unbelief, continual rejection of Jesus, and what do we see here is the heart of our Lord. He cried out again from His heart, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 

This is the heart of God, of Jesus. Come to Me, come to Me and believe in Me and be saved. Experience new life, the abundant life by God's grace through faith. John tells us that Jesus here speaks of the Holy Spirit, of regeneration, those blessings of the new covenant we now enjoy through faith in Christ. This is a promise, a promise we see consistently throughout the scriptures. 

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 

John 4:14, "Jesus said, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 

John 11:26, "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" I've come as a light into the world that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness, and all the way at the end of the Bible we read this in Revelation 22:17, "And the Spirit and the bride say come and let him who hears say come and let him whom through thirst come whoever desires let him take the water of life freely." 

Jesus is an invitation to come, to have life, and for everyone who believes Jesus, he is born again, he receives the Holy Spirit, and a spring of living waters burst forth inside of him. He's a new creation. Anyone who's in Christ is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And not only that, my friends, He has given to us the ministry of reconciliation: God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

Now then we are His ambassadors, His witnesses on earth, as though God were pleading through us. Jesus stood in the temple that day offering the words of eternal life: "Come to Me and believe." This is the invitation. 

And now Jesus has died, been buried, risen again the third day, has ascended into heaven, and is sitting at the right hand of God, and He left us here as His ambassadors. He has given to us the words of reconciliation, the gospel. He sent us out into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature, to persuade men to believe. This is our purpose; this is our privilege; this is our life—to be witnesses for Him. 

On Wednesday night, we studied Acts 9 and Peter's two miracles of healing Aeneas and raising Tabitha from the dead, and what we noticed was that these events facilitated the preaching of the gospel, the salvation of many. They turned to the Lord. What we noticed by way of application was that the text says as Peter went—as he was going—and this reminds us of the Great Commission that Jesus gave to us: go, literally as you are going, preach the gospel to every creature, make disciples. 

It's not a slick four-step plan; it's the natural course of our lives as new creations, as that river of living water is springing up in us and out through us to others. We cannot contain it. We must share it. As we go, we tell people about Jesus, who He is and what He's done for me. 

Let me ask you, my brother, my sister in Christ, where are you going? You go to work; you go to the store; you go to the gas station; you go to social events—you're going all the time. So as you go, as God brings people across your path and as He arranges these meetings, be praying, be looking, and like Jesus, offer them eternal life, salvation through faith in Him. 

Tell them about Jesus. Sing His praises; speak of His excellent greatness and persuade them to believe. This is the message of our text: if anyone thirsts, let me ask you, my brother, my sister in Christ, do you thirst? Are you thirsty for Jesus, for the living waters? 

Do you sense your desperate need for Him every day? We need Him not just at the point of salvation; we need Him not only as the way to life, but we also need Him as the way of life, believing Him each step of the way, depending on Him, trusting in Him. 

And in this abiding relationship as a branch in a vine, we will see the fruit of His life in us, the living waters springing up and flowing out through us by the power of the Holy Spirit in us by His grace through faith. This is the life that Jesus offers: abundant, fruitful living through faith in Him. 

The people of our world most often reject Jesus just as the leaders and crowds did that day in the temple, but yet we see Jesus continue to cry out to invite men to come to Him in faith for eternal life, and it says many believed. It always says many believe. They picked up stones, they sought to kill Him, they tried to push Him off the cliff, but many believe. 

Right? We must do likewise in our lives in our world even as it grows darker and darker. The only thing that can dispel the darkness is the light, and we have the light. We know the light; we walk in the light; we shine that light forth in this world by word and by deed. 

Those people in the crowd that day didn't know much about Jesus, who He is, why He came, what He was offering them, but my brother, my sister, take comfort in this truth: we know Him and He knows us. "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." 

That's what Jesus was telling them that day. We are secure in Him. God keeps us. Listen to these amazing words in 1 Peter as we close. Enjoy the assurance that you have in Him and thank Him and praise Him for these truths: 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while if need be you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love, though now you do not see Him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 

We have a living hope in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, and we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed. John writes in 1 John 3, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 

What a joy and a privilege, a tremendous blessing and assurance it is to know Jesus Christ, and knowing Him, believing Him, to have certainty of eternal life. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank You for the gospel. We thank You for Jesus. We're thankful that You sent Him, that He died in our place for our sins and accomplished our salvation on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day, showing that You were satisfied with His payment for our sins in full. Thank You that You have imputed to us Your very own righteousness that we might be fit for heaven and that we now live by Your grace through faith to be Your witnesses, to live holy lives, to bring You glory, to praise You and thank You, and we thank You that we can know that we have eternal life and we can be confident that You will do what You've said. 

You will keep Your promises for those who believe You; there's no fear in death, only rejoicing, and that we now see You face to face. In Jesus' name, we pray.