Bro Gary Sunday morning 10/16/11
Joh 7:37 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.
Joh 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Jesus came in the middle of the feast: the Feast of the Tabernacles was a 7 day feast with an additional day. The eighth day was another feast. The Children of Israel brought the makings of a tent, the palms, the willows, the cords. They would pack the makings of the tent where ever they went and at night would set up the tent to sleep in. They did this so they could remember the wanderings in the wilderness for forty years.
There was a sin offering made daily and they brought lots of critters for the offering. Every day they marched around the altar. This was probably to symbolize the marching around the walls of Jericho. On the seventh day they were to march around the altar seven times.
On the eighth day Jesus cried, “If any man thirst…” God made us to desire to receive so that we can give out. It is important to be rightly related to God so that we can receive from Him and have something that is of value to give out.
They were to bring in the first fruits of the last of their harvests. The priest would offer a calf, a ram, a goat and seven lambs for a sin offering.
On this special occasion one or more priests would go to the pool of Saloam and would take water out of that pool. There had been a plan to cut the water off at Jerusalem; God had given someone a plan to bring water into the city so that their water was never cut out. They would pour this water on the sacrifice and the people would be marching around and would sing all of the 113th Psalm. This was the first Psalm that they would sing. I don’t know how many people was at this particular feast but there was quite a voice going up singing:
Psa 113:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.
Psa 113:2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
We each have needs, but let us not forget what God has done for us and where God has brought us from and our faith will be increased. Our brothers and sisters faith will be increased because of our faith being increased.
Psa 113:3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised.
In the gospel Day Jesus has come and He is worthy of much praise! Worthy is the Lamb!
Psa 113:4 The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.
Psa 113:5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high,
Psa 113:6 Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!
It is marvelous that it is the inhabitants of the Earth that God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit are concerned about. There is much to marvel about in the world. To think that He cares so much! His name is to be praised.
Psa 113:7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
Psa 113:8 That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
God changes lives!
Psa 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
There are many scriptures in the Bible that states the goodness of God to ladies. God took care of Jochabed Moses’ mother. He took care of Hannah, the lady that stood in the temple praying and Eli thought that she was drunk. She told him that no, she was a woman of sorrowful spirit.
There is a natural instinct after you are married to desire a child. There is a natural instinct after you are saved to want to see someone saved. We are here to help one another. We are here and you are very valuable to God.
It is not what we have to offer, it is what we yield to God and what God pours in and we pour out.
In the 114th Psalm, it is a song of God expressing his mighty power in delivering the People from Egypt. God is of mighty power! We are to magnify God and remember that He has magnified his word above all his name.
IN the 115th Psalm it magnifies God above all the idols that have eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear. Trust God for help and protection he is your help and your shield. Trust God all the way.
In the 116th Psalm, while all this was going on, Jesus was there. He knew everything that they were singing. He’d known them in their most difficult time and had protected them. He had been the one that came and provided for them time and again.
I love the Lord because He hath heard my voice and my supplication…. Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
WE cannot live on past blessings but we want to remember the times when prayer came through. Whether it was a family need, an emotional need, a financial need, we want to remember what God has done.
What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits unto me? There was something in them that wanted to give back because of how good God had been. When we think of how good God has been and the benefits of serving God it makes us want to give back.
I will take the cup of salvation. I will take what God is offering me. Our lives can be so empty; we can be the loneliest people in the world. We can have a life as a desert.
Here they said, “I will take the cup of salvation.” God is not going to shove anything down our throat. He will not force anything upon us; that is not how God is. He presents. I can see the hand of God holding out the cup of salvation.
I can see Jesus, the very author and finisher of our salvation. He was right there. The people were marching; they had palms in their hand. They would take these palms and wave them as they got emotional. Jesus was there. It was Him that they were waiting for and He was there.
They said “I’ll take the cup of salvation.” Every morning there is a cup held out to us, we can drink of that cup and receive everything that we need from this cup of salvation.
I’ll call upon the name of the lord and pay my vows. Don’t forget what you have promised the Lord. It is important that you keep your vows. There is something that we need to know; it is precious to God.
The children get into things; they were getting into these activities; some of the older people were getting into it. They had palms and Jesus was beholding this. They sang, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” We want to have a mind frame that this world is just a temporary place. There will come a time that all of us will pass on.
Truly I am thy servant: In these verses they often repeated themselves. They wanted the emphasis on ‘Thy servant’. I’m called to be a servant, God help me to be a servant.
Loosed the bonds: the Egypt that God helped me get out of was my sin.
Psa 117:1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
Psa 117:2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
In the 118th Psalm, Jesus was at the feast and witnessed their worship. He knew all about everything. He remembered: there was a time in Egypt when their burdens were so heavy and their grief was so strong that they couldn’t hear the good word of God from Moses.
There are times when our pain is so great, when we are so absorbed with the difficult situation that we are in that God in His faithfulness sends His word and sometimes we don’t hear it. Sometimes we must go through lots of pain before we realize that we must separate our self from that so that we can hear God.
Psa 118:21 I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
Their understanding was limited, they only knew the forgiveness that the burnt offering offered and were
thankful for that.
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
They were rejoicing because they knew that the Messiah was going to come and there would be a kingdom set up that would be a spiritual kingdom. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone; there is no way to build for God except from the Chief Corner Stone.
All is built from Him. He is the head stone that Zerubable prophesied of. Jesus is the head of the church. We are all members of the body, fitly framed into God’s church. Jesus is the chief corner stone and the head stone.
Jesus knew who He was and knew who they were. They didn’t have it together who Jesus was.
This is the Lord’s doing: Everything that God had done was done as God ordered it to be done. There is no wavering in my conviction of faith this morning. This week, God is going to be moving in behalf of every one of us. God knows what you and I need. Whatever you need God through His son and the Holy Ghost will do what is according to His will. This will be best for you, for the kingdom of God, and for your influence.
Psa 118:23 This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
As we stand here and look down the road and see how good God has been, it is marvelous in our eyes. It is marvelous how God has worked that mankind can know about Jesus. When we think of the snares that He has led us around, it is marvelous. When we stood at the crossroads and had two ways before us and knew that God wanted us to go this way it is marvelous. Stand in the old paths.
Psa 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
They were thrilled for the day of feasting. Right in the midst of the day of feasting, Jesus was standing there.
Psa 118:25 Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
The source of all prosperity was right there. Christ is all. He is salvation; His name shall be called Jesus for He shall save His people from their sin.
Jer 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all.
Imagine those dear children of Israel at that day of the feast. They appreciated that day of burnt offering and the truth that it was acceptable for God for that season to forgive them of their sin. Jesus, the one that takes away the sin of the world and is able to satisfy that hunger within, stood there.
Children hunger for God, young people hunger for God and for lots of things. Only God offers the right way. They were asking for prosperity. Oh love of God… Jesus stood there; He was the very son of God that was sent because the Father loved the world.
They said, Send prosperity, Jesus was there. There is only one way : “for the fruit of the Spirit is Love.” The song says, “I was looking for love in all the wrong places…” Until we love God with all our heart and mind we cannot really be loved because we are a selfish person. We cannot love another either, we are a selfish person.
God wants us to be prosperous with love and with joy. You can be happy without whatever you might be saying, “I could never be happy without…”
You can be happy, Jesus brings joy. Jesus was standing there when they said send prosperity… Love, Joy, Peace, we are so blessed. He is the author of peace. Without Jesus there is no peace.
As he stood there he said, “Come to me all that thirst.”
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
God is able to give you a long fuse. Goodness comes from God. He is a triune God and the word good comes from His name.
You need faith in God no matter your station in life or how secure you feel you are.
Is there anything more beautiful than a meek and quiet spirit? Than a man or woman walking with God in a spirit of humility, easily entreated.
Temperance: knowing when to start and when to stop.
Psa 118:27 God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
We want to be serious that our oneness with Christ is with the cords of love. We love Him because he first loved us. We don’t love Him because we hope He’ll give us a new car. Every once in a while we need to check our cords. The cord of soberness, every once in a while people get light and silly and think that ‘I’ll just do this.’
The cord of discipline. Discipline with what we think about, what we listen to and what we look at. If we don’t our life will get out of course.
Psa 118:28 Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
Psa 118:29 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
They went through their traditions and Jesus was right there, probably standing and looking open-faced. He said these words, “I any man thirst let him come to me and drink.”
Everyone was made to hunger and thirst after righteousness. If you are thirsty for acceptance, cleansing, unity, a deeper walk with God, if you feel the need of drawing closer to God, Jesus is saying, “If any man thirst, come to me.”
Today, the Holy Ghost always witnesses to us if we are on course or if we have veered off the course. All the foundations of the world are out of course. We cannot afford to go that way. The Holy Ghost witnesses You need to get back on course. You and I know if everything is on the altar, we know if we are sold out to God. We can be sold out to God and thirst for more of God so that we have something to offer the world and our friends.
Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”
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