Michael Youssef - Jesus Gives Living Water

You know, I wonder how many times you have heard from medical experts or medical amateurs these words: «You need to drink more water.» «Do you drink enough water?» «How many glasses of water do you drink a day?» «Be sure to drink plenty of water.» Why? Because next to breathing, water is the most important substance of life. Again, I’m not trying to be a medical expert here, but those who are experts tell us that our bodies are mostly made of water.

Some years ago—and you’ll understand that in a minute—there was a study published that said the following: a 150-pound person has only enough iron for two nails, phosphorus for 4,000 match heads, enough fat for 75 candles, a bottle of soap, hydrogen enough to fill a balloon, six spoons of salt, and a bowl of sugar. The rest is water—at least six gallons of it. Soon after that, Dr. Charles Mayer of the Mayo Clinic, when he read this, added the following: «There is also enough lime to whitewash a chicken coop, enough magnesium for a dose of milk of magnesia, enough potassium to explode a toy cannon, and enough sulfur to rid a dog of fleas.» Well, today’s prices, a 150-pound friend is worth about $10. Enough of that.

In the last message, we had a lesson on horticulture. Today, we’re going to get a lesson on physiology. So I want you to turn with me, please, to John chapter 7, beginning at verse 37, and we’re going to read verses 38 and 39. «On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.'» Then John continues, «By this, he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. For up to that time, the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.»

You know, the Apostle John was writing those words in his gospel several years after our Lord Jesus uttered those words in the hearing of John and the other disciples. The day that the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, had not been poured out yet. He came to permanently dwell in the believer on the day of Pentecost. But when Jesus uttered those words, the Spirit had not yet been given. Jesus is telling his disciples that the Holy Spirit is coming following his resurrection and ascension. He said, «I don’t leave you orphans; I’m going to send him to you.» The Holy Spirit came right on schedule, as Jesus promised.

And that is why, later on, Jesus told the disciples before his ascension, «You stay in the upper room until the Holy Spirit comes upon you to empower you for ministry.» Jesus gives us one of the most powerful, the most beautiful symbols of the Holy Spirit: the living water. Question: If he is the living water and if there is holy, the life-giving water, is there dead water? Yes, absolutely. Stay tuned; I’m coming to it in a minute. But before I do this, I need to put this particular text in its context, as we always do. This was no ordinary day; this was not just another day or just another celebration. This was a very special day. This was the last day of the great feast.

What is that great feast? Well, it was a feast that lasted for seven days. Seven days, day after day, a celebration. It was the feast of the tabernacles. It was the feast in which the Jews remembered and celebrated how God delivered their ancestors from certain death, from being thirsty all the way to death. In the wilderness, when they came out of the slavery of Egypt, there was no water. And you remember, in the wilderness, they cried out to Moses before they went to the land of promise. Here they are in the desert; everywhere they look, desert, desert, no water. And supernaturally, twice God provided for them living water—water that made them live and not die.

So, in Exodus 15:22, they were beyond desperate for a drink of water—not bitter water that would kill them, that would not help them at all. But they needed water that would give them life, that would make them survive. In Exodus 15, the Lord gives Moses a very unusual, if not bizarre, solution to that bitter water. What did he say to Moses? He said, «Take a tree and throw it in the water, and the water will change from being bitter to being living water or life-giving water.»

Did you know that five times the Bible calls the cross of Christ a tree, or that tree? Oh, beloved, listen! Don’t miss this. Don’t miss this; this is really important. The only healing for our embittered souls is the cross of Christ. The only healing for our embittered memories is the cross of Christ. The only true redemption, forgiveness, and restoration is the tree, which is the cross of Christ. The word «bitter» or «bitterness» is mentioned many times in the Scriptures, many times. And sometimes the Bible likens it to a root, not a fruit, but a root. Why? Because bitterness can go deep into a person’s life and not even be aware of it. Jesus can heal that, and he can heal it today.

In every case in the Scripture, you can test me on this: in every case in the Scripture, whenever a life becomes bitter or embittered, it is when that person distanced himself or herself from the Lord. The Bible said that when Peter distanced himself from Jesus and he denied him three times, the Bible said he went out and wept bitterly. The tree that Moses threw into that bitter water transformed it into sweet, life-giving water. Now, I’m giving you this explanation obviously for a reason: why this particular feast was very, very important. Jesus strategically makes this announcement during the last day of the week. It’s vitally important that you get that, whether it be in Mara or in the water that came out of the rock.

It’s important to understand the significance of that great feast and the significance of Jesus’s declaration of his exclusivity and the exclusivity of the gift that he gives and only he gives. And that is why Jesus chose the very last day of the celebration—the seventh day. He probably waited every single day he was there in Jerusalem, watching the celebration, as I’m going to explain it to you, and then he waited until the very last day to make this incredible declaration I just read to you: that he, and exclusively he, can give the Holy Spirit. No one else can; he and he alone can give the life-giving water that comes from his spirit, his Holy Spirit.

Now let me tell you exactly what happened during those seven days. It’s the same thing that happened day after day; there was no variation. Day after day, the priests would come out of the temple with golden vessels in their hands, each of them—all of the priests—and they would line up in front of the temple and go all the way down into the Kidron Valley. I showed you pictures of the Kidron Valley in the last message. And they would go down, marching toward—because it goes down; it’s a hilly area. So, they would go down through the Kidron Valley all the way to a pool called the Pool of Siloam. There behind them, as they were marching down, masses of people, whoever was there would line up with them; they would line up behind. It was a huge procession.

Day after day, they processed and went in the same formation all the way down to that pool. And there at the pool, the priests would ceremonially dip their golden vessels, and then they would carry those golden vessels back up that hill without spilling it. They had to walk all the way back to the temple. And when they got to the temple, inside the temple, ceremoniously they would pour that water they just got from the Pool of Siloam, and they would pour it on the altar. During that time, the crowd starts singing. Listen to the song; memorize it. Because I want to show you the significance of the song and Jesus’s declaration: «With joy, we shall draw water out of the well of salvation. With joy, we shall draw water out of the wells of salvation.» And that repeated and sung and sung and sung: «We draw water out of the wells of salvation.» Let those words sink in, please—the wells of salvation.

Hear me right: the ceremony and the feast were designed only for one purpose—only one purpose—and that is to remind each generation of God’s people how God saved their ancestors all those years ago from certain death. In the past message, for those of you here, we saw how Jesus always used precious things to them. He related to them. He was being relevant to their situation and their time, and he used those precious things to illustrate who he is as the exclusive Son of God. He is the bread of life. He is the vine. He is the truth, the way, the truth, and the life. He is the good shepherd. He is the door. He is the light of the world. And here he says, «I am the giver and the only giver of the water of life.»

I’m going to explain that in a minute because Jesus is saying more than that. He’s saying more than that. He’s saying that he is the fulfillment of that ceremony that they’ve been going through for six days. That he is that rock that provided the water for their ancestors. That the tree is the cross that was thrown into the bitter water and made it living water. Jesus said, «Whosoever,» the exclusivity of Christ issues an inclusive invitation. «Whosoever believes in me not only will receive eternal life, eternal healing for the soul, not only will experience eternal life in heaven, not only enjoy full restoration of life, not only experience contentment and joy in this life, but as the scripture says, streams of living waters will flow from within him.»

People thirst for meaning. There are people who thirst for significance. There are people who thirst for a sense of wanting to belong. There are some people thirsting for wanting to accomplish something with their lives. To all—how many? —all Jesus says, «Come to me, and I will give you what your heart truly longs for, what your heart is really longing for, whether you know it or not. Come to me, and I will empower you to do great things for God.» If you have ever experienced—I’m talking about real thirst, physical thirst—you’ll be able to translate this into the spiritual realm. See, physical thirst is the most powerful drive in human life.

Let me tell you something: I’ve only experienced it once. I’m talking about when your mouth is like this, stuffed with cotton or sand, and you’re so desperate. You’re so desperate; you can only think of satisfying your thirst. And that is why Jesus uses this symbol here. That is also why, in Luke chapter 16, make a note of it; go home and read it, particularly verse 24. You know when Jesus was talking about an incident he knew about that had taken place: he knew he saw it before his incarnation. And he talks about Lazarus and the rich man. Remember the story? And they both died, and the rich man goes to Hades, the place of torment. But Lazarus goes into the bosom of Abraham, or paradise, as known in the Old Testament. One drop of water! He is looking for one drop! He lived all his life for self; he lived all his life not even caring for Lazarus. But then he wanted Lazarus to just give him a drop of water. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said, «All the training my officers need is five minutes in hell, and they’ll become great evangelists.» This man was only there a few seconds in hell, and he became an evangelist—wants somebody to rise from the dead in order to warn his brothers so they don’t end up there.

In John chapter 5, Jesus confronts the Samaritan woman who was desperately searching for real meaning in life, was desperately searching for the living water without knowing it. And Jesus offered her. He asked her for water, but then he said, «If you know what I can give you, I can give you the living water.» She felt degraded. She knew nothing but degradation and drudgery. She was living in denial of her real needs, and she sought satisfaction for her spiritual thirst in sexual promiscuity. And that is why Jesus said to her, «This kind of temporary satisfaction that you think you’re receiving, this kind of salty water that you are drinking, this kind of life that you’re living will never give you true and lasting satisfaction.»

Let me ask you this question as I conclude: Are you drinking bitter water thinking it will satisfy you? Are you drinking that salty water of the world thinking, «Well, that’s going to help satisfy you?» I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God and with absolute certainty that will only paralyze you, spiritually speaking. It will render you ineffective for God. Come to the cross of Christ. Come to the cross of Christ, and he will give you his Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on the inside of you, he will not only remove all bitterness—all bitterness in your life. Be careful of these roots of bitterness that are underground in your life, in your inner psyche, without even working—you see its result, but you can’t see it. Get rid of those! Don’t go home with them! Pull them out! Place them at the blood of Jesus Christ today. He will empower you, not only to be blessed but to be a blessing to others.