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If Anyone Thirsts · Messiah in Life

0:18
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Messiah in Life podcast, presented by Bishop Justin D.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Lwell of Messiah, Congregation and Restoration Fellowship International in Washington Mills, New York.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: In this episode, Bishop Justin brings us a message to God on the eighth day of the feast, entitled, If Anyone Thirsts, The Living Water of Messiah.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: As the celebration of booths reached its climax in the temple, water played a significant role in the worship and anticipation of God's provision.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: And it was against this remarkable setting that Jesus stood and declared.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: If anyone thirsts, come on to me and drink.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: And Justin explores the water drawing ceremony.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: The pool of silver the significance of the one who was sent.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: And the powerful connection between the waters of Sukkot and the living water that fire gives through the Holy Spirit.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: So, as we rejoice in the Lord's provision and faithfulness, consider the question Are you thirsty?
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And now to Bishop Justin.
1:29
SPEAKER_01: If anyone thirsts If anyone thirsts errors is the backdrop for today, I'm gonna read from John chapter 7.
1:44
SPEAKER_01: If you have your Bible with you.
1:46
SPEAKER_01: John chapter 7, beginning verse 37.
1:58
SPEAKER_01: The apostle writes, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Hoshiana Rabah, that was yesterday.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeshua stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me.
2:10
SPEAKER_01: Underline, come to me and drink.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: Whoever believes in me, as the scripture said, actively presently believing, it's just like John 3.16.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Actively presently believing in me, as the scripture said, out of his heart or out of his inmost parts will flow rivers of living water.
2:33
SPEAKER_01: Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believe in him were to receive.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: For as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Yeshua was not yet glorified.
2:48
SPEAKER_01: This is God's word.
2:51
SPEAKER_01: Sukkot obviously is Zaman Sim Chatinu, the time of our rejoicing.
2:57
SPEAKER_01: We start this progression towards Sukkot by, as we read in the Torah portion, by afflicting our soul.
3:10
SPEAKER_01: We move from affliction to joy.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: How many of you have ever experienced seasons of affliction?
3:18
SPEAKER_01: And when you recovered the joy that you had, the joy that you experienced.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Have you ever noticed that when you when you have your daily life, your daily routine disrupted by something that is out of your control, how precious that daily routine seems when it's disrupted?
3:44
SPEAKER_01: So Zaman Sim Chateinu, the time of our rejoicing, as we come to Hushyana Rabbah yesterday, and as we come to Shemini Tseret today, which is its own sacred time.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: It's an eighth day.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: It's a day outside of time.
4:01
SPEAKER_01: I said earlier, every day is an eighth day, but this is an eighth day that is associated with the season of Sukkot for the very purpose of pointing us to the tabernacles that is to come.
4:16
SPEAKER_01: As we look at Revelation, specifically 7 verse 9, we see that there is a time when we will stand before the throne of grace, before the Father, before the Lamb, wave our lulav, our palm branches, dressed in white kittles, exactly like this one, because I've already bought it and I don't want another one.
4:38
SPEAKER_01: But we will rejoice before him and celebrate before him.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: All of us together with our brothers and sisters from throughout history.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: Don't Paul, because I have a lot of questions.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: And he's going to be occupied for a while.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: But we're rehearsing for that day, that time when we will be brought into his presence.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: And then as it so beautifully illustrates in Revelation 7, he will pull his canopy, he will pull his chuppah over, his tent over all of us, and that becomes the chuppa.
5:10
SPEAKER_01: It becomes the bridal chamber where we are forever joined with him.
5:17
SPEAKER_01: But because of the agrarian society that ancient Israel was, and the fact that Sukkot was a transitional time between dry season and rainy season, Shminy Tzerat became a part of it became focused on water, on rain.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Now I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion in central New York on October 3rd.
5:42
SPEAKER_01: We need the snow.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: Now I know you don't want to admit it.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to play this back in a month or two and remind myself that we need it.
6:16
SPEAKER_01: But where we are anticipating snow.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: For the very reason why the ancient Israelites and the Jewish people of the first century were anticipating the rain.
6:27
SPEAKER_01: Because rain was essential for life.
6:30
SPEAKER_01: We need the rain.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Sukkot, again, being transitional, creates in us an anticipation.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's what we're seeing the setting here on this day when Yeshua stands up, as we'll unpack in just a moment.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: So during this Second Temple period, there was a practice where a priest, usually a younger priest, would be sent from the altar down to the pool of Siloam.
6:57
SPEAKER_01: He'd carry a golden pitcher and he'd go and take water, and he would ascend back up the Temple Mount to the altar.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: And with him were people shouting, celebrating, rejoicing.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: They were blowing shofars, they were sounding the trumpet as he ascended the mountain to the altar.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: And it was an anticipation of rejoicing, and as he approached the altar, he would pour out the offering, as the wine offering was also poured out.
7:33
SPEAKER_01: Now it's kind of a beautiful illustration because wine in Scripture is associated with joy, predominantly.
7:41
SPEAKER_01: It's a joyful thing.
7:43
SPEAKER_01: It's, you know, it takes time to grow, it takes time to dress and prepare.
7:49
SPEAKER_01: So it's associated with peace.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: That there's peace when we have wine, when we're able to have wine.
7:57
SPEAKER_01: But the rabbis talk about the blessing for wine.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: So you have a blessing for yin and a blessing for myin.
8:06
SPEAKER_01: Yin and myin.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Wine and water.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Now, the blessing for the wine is, you all know it.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: But what about the blessing for the water?
8:22
SPEAKER_01: See, the blessing for the water is actually more important.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: Because while wine is joyful, that's not licensed to go and do.
8:37
SPEAKER_01: But while wine is joyful, water's life.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: And we say the bracha for water every week.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: You know which one we say?
8:58
SPEAKER_01: That's the blessing that covers everything.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: If you don't know what the blessing is for something, Sheachol Nia Bidvaro.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Who made everything according to his will, his word.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: And he made the water for the blessing of life.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: And he's given us life, and he's given us life in abundance.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: So when we look at this ceremony, it's it's a reminder.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: We need physical reminders.
9:28
SPEAKER_01: We need the Lulav.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: We need the etrog.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: It's gonna get a little crowded up here, but that's okay.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: We need the Lulav.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: We need the etrog.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: We need these reminders that we are to come and rejoice, and we are to come and celebrate, and we are to come and shout Hoshiano Rabah, save now, Lord.
9:52
SPEAKER_01: Save now.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: And we are to say hallelujah, hallelujah to the Lamb.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: And we are to take and smell the citron.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: So that when we don't have it in our hand, when we're in a season of dryness, when we're in a season, you know you're dry, you know you're you're in a season of of uh of uh being an empty vessel, an empty well, when even your medical doctor or your medical uh primary medical says you you're you're empty, aren't you?
10:26
SPEAKER_01: How did you notice?
10:30
SPEAKER_01: But you know what still is in my heart is the smell of the citron, the fruit of the beautiful tree.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: The three-eighths hadar.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: And it is beautiful.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: And the aroma does linger, the aroma does stay with us, and it becomes that important reminder.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: Just as I I said a couple of weeks ago, if I was to say moror, everyone now has what?
11:04
SPEAKER_01: Horseradish on the brain.
11:09
SPEAKER_01: What about a citron?
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Well, it's a little lemony, but not quite.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: It's not quite, it's not a lemon, it's a citron.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: But as you smell it, as the oils begin to be released from it as it's warmed up, that aroma.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Just like at Kavdala, we have the spices of Havdallah.
11:33
SPEAKER_01: Vesamine, which give us during the week, when our weeks are going, well, not so much like we planned, but we can remember the spices, the aroma of Havdalah that carry us to the next Shabbos.
11:50
SPEAKER_01: But this ceremony was drawn from Isaiah twelve three song Mimaneha Yeshua Shaft emaim bis a sang, Mimaneha Yeshua, myam, hey my bison, myam, hey my embiss a son, my hey, hey, hey, my bis a sang, hey, hey, hey, hey, my bis a song.
12:29
SPEAKER_01: Therefore you shall draw with joy from the wall the wells of salvation.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: And they would see this water being brought, they would celebrate their dependence on the Lord for the water, for the season, for the sustaining of the land, for the provision that was to come, for the fruit that was to come, for the joy that was to come, for the bounty that was to come.
12:58
SPEAKER_01: See, when we are caught up in the end, we're actually caught up in the beginning as well.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: There's another dimension to the pool of Siloam.
13:11
SPEAKER_01: Hezekiah's tunnel is a masterpiece.
13:16
SPEAKER_01: It is an ancient marvel of engineering.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: It brings water from a spring, and it was meant to be a military, uh had military objective to secure the water for Jerusalem.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: But the marvel is that two opposite teams began to dig to bore into the mountain.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: And they had no way.
13:41
SPEAKER_01: We still have no idea how they did this.
13:44
SPEAKER_01: We think it might have to do a sound, someone pounding on top of the rock to direct them.
13:49
SPEAKER_01: But these two teams, and they weren't just going in a straight line.
13:55
SPEAKER_01: No, they had to go, they had to bend, but somehow these two teams met in the middle.
14:07
SPEAKER_01: Now, the other amazing thing about that is over the 1750 feet of this tunnel, there is a one-foot loss in elevation, which creates this gentle stream.
14:26
SPEAKER_01: So it doesn't overwhelm the pool, it didn't overwhelm the workers, but one foot over 1750 feet.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: I've just, you know, completed working on my mother's retaining wall.
14:42
SPEAKER_01: And because I want the to encourage the Lord's blessing and water to move away from the house and not to the house, I had to ensure that there was a grade.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: And I'm I'm only doing this over 16 feet.
14:56
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I've already messed this up.
14:58
SPEAKER_01: 1,700 feet, one foot of gloss to bring the water gently down to the pool.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: So the water was being sent.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: That's why it's saloon.
15:12
SPEAKER_01: John tells us that it is the pool of the scent, because the water was being sent into Jerusalem.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: But of course, we know Yeshua in the Gospel of John continually identifies himself as the one sent from the Father.
15:27
SPEAKER_01: So the waters were brought into the city.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeshua was brought into the world by the Father.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: The water was sent into Jerusalem, Messiah was sent into the world through Jerusalem that the gospel would go out.
15:43
SPEAKER_01: So the priest that went to the pool, he went to the pool of the sent one.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: While the sent one was up by the altar, while the sent one was in the midst of the people, and Yeshua stood and he gave an invitation of grace.
16:08
SPEAKER_01: Here, this is the backdrop of what happened on that last day, the great day of the feast.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: He stands up and said, If anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: Imagine that scene.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: Everybody's anticipating and praying for the coming rains.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: And this rabbi stands up and says, Hey, you're thirsty.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: Come to me.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Come to me.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: The people are there, they've watched the ceremony, they've seen the water brought in, they've seen it poured upon the altar, they've rejoiced and the provision, and they look forward to this heavenly rain.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: And Yeshua stands and speaks of thirst.
17:04
SPEAKER_01: But he's not speaking of physical thirst.
17:09
SPEAKER_01: Supernatural thirst.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: You know, the last, particularly the last month, I've been particularly the last couple of weeks since I've kind of detached from as much social media as I possibly can.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: What a blessing that is.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: Glory to God.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: I've been, you know, I I I I wouldn't say I've been morbidly reviewing my life.
18:07
SPEAKER_01: I've been reading Grief Observed, as I said this on Wednesday, by C.S.
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Lewis.
18:13
SPEAKER_01: Marvelous work.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: But I look at where I am and what is happening, what my family and I are working through.
18:28
SPEAKER_01: And the amazing thing is you realize that none of your achievement matters.
18:34
SPEAKER_01: Nothing you've done matters.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: None of the diplomas on the wall matter.
18:42
SPEAKER_01: They have a purpose, but in the long run it doesn't matter.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: Because all you're doing is focusing on the Lord.
18:52
SPEAKER_01: You're not praying to your diploma.
18:55
SPEAKER_01: As beautiful as it is, and as expensive a stupid piece of paper as it is, you're not praying to that.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: You're praying to the Lord.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: You're saying, Hoshiana Rabbah, save me now with a great salvation, O Lord.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Ananna, Hoshiana, save me now, O Lord.
19:14
SPEAKER_01: That's what you're praying.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: Because of all that is going, nothing is in your control.
19:20
SPEAKER_01: I've learned more about grief.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: I've learned more about anticipatory grief.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: I've learned that there are things that I cannot fix.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: If you know me, I'm a fixer.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: I have to fix.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: I've got to fix everything.
19:32
SPEAKER_01: But this I can't.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: So I turn to the only one who can.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: But he's not going to fix it because I'm perfect.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: He's not going to fix it because I'm very well degreed.
19:47
SPEAKER_01: He's not going to fix it because I'm super cool.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: That that, you know, nobody can make this look as good as me.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: You know, he's not, it's not going to be any of that.
20:01
SPEAKER_01: And that's the invitation that Messiah gives to us.
20:05
SPEAKER_01: If anyone thirsts, Lord, I thirst.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: I finally admitted after 23 years or whatever it is now, that I'm looking at the bottom of the well and I can't see anything down there.
20:20
SPEAKER_01: And I look up and say, Only Lord, only you can fill this.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: Only you can resupply this.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: And all I can do is say, I'm thirsty.
20:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm thirsty.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: But we have to be willing to take hold of that.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: See, it's an invitation that begins with our recognizing our need.
20:50
SPEAKER_01: Several years ago, when before I knew, before before I knew that uh that my thyroid had gone wonky, this is the hard part of 35, kids.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: Before I knew that my thyroid had gone wonky, I was out on a long day hike, 16 miles or something, on a beautiful bluebird Adirondack day.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: Over five mountain peaks that day.
21:16
SPEAKER_01: I started the hike with 110 ounces of water.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: Filled up one more time before I headed up because there's no water on the ridgeline.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Got to the third mountain of the day, four or five hours in, and I'm out of water.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm out of water, and my mind starts to think, okay, where is the nearest water supply?
21:41
SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's down there.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: So I make my way, I have to still go over two more peaks before I get to go down there because there's no water anywhere else, and I'm thirsting.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: I am thirsting.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: And then I notice as I'm descending down what's called the Macomb slide, it's Old slide that is now just um shale, essentially.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: You're trying to gracefully and not kill yourself, go down this shale slide that's about 600 feet of elevation loss in a quarter of a mile.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: It's very steep.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: And I realized I'm stopped sweating.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: Now you all know the Justin doesn't stop.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: He'd go hike with me on a 20 minus 20-degree day.
22:32
SPEAKER_01: I'm still sweating.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: It's just me.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: It just means I'm super anointed, Stephen.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: My mind is going as I'm making my, I know where there's a water supply.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: I have never been on this range where it was not flowing.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: And I get there anticipating drinking because man, I am thirsty.
22:55
SPEAKER_01: And there's nothing.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: It's dry.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: There's no reason for it to be dry.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: It should be running, but it's dry.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: Now what do I have to do?
23:05
SPEAKER_01: I have two more miles before, and I'm thinking in my head, how do I manage this?
23:12
SPEAKER_01: I put uh you know candies in my mouth, generate saliva and all these types of things, and I'm heading down to finally get to the trail.
23:21
SPEAKER_01: And I knew two things.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: First, I need to cool my body down.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: So I lay right in that water, just let it wash over me.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: Just let it walk, let my skin begin to absorb that, just laying in that water, and then I begin to slowly drink.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: But that thirst on that day cannot compare to the spiritual thirst.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: And there's only one source and only one supply.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: But the beautiful thing is that we don't have to go on a mission.
23:59
SPEAKER_01: We don't have to hike miles and miles and miles.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: We just have to respond to the come to me.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: If anyone thirsts, that invitation of grace, we have to recognize our need.
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that the hardest thing to do?
24:16
SPEAKER_01: To recognize our need.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: I stood here last week and confessed something that I've wrestled with for years and years.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: I had to recognize my need and then express my need.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: So there's a thirst in every human heart.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: Every human heart has a thirst that the natural world cannot quench.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: As the old psalm says, as heart pants for the water.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: That's an inside joke among a few of us.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: I couldn't read the psalm as I was calling out the hymn.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm looking at what does heart pants mean?
24:57
SPEAKER_01: What what are heart pants?
24:59
SPEAKER_01: Why is this a hymn?
25:01
SPEAKER_01: Could not could not process what I was looking at.
25:05
SPEAKER_01: Heart pants as heart pants.
25:08
SPEAKER_01: What are heart pants?
25:10
SPEAKER_01: Why are it why is a Christian hymn as heart pants?
25:14
SPEAKER_01: Can anybody explain that to me?
25:16
SPEAKER_01: Of course, now I understand.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: It took me a while.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: I'm a little slow.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: But there is, hmm, there is nothing that will satisfy us.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: Nothing that we can possess that'll satisfy us.
25:33
SPEAKER_01: No achievement, no pleasure, no religious activity, or human relationship even.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: We can spend our lives trying to satisfy that inner need, but we won't be able to fill it.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Messiah does not tell the thirsty person to pretend he's not thirsty.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: I wish we would get over ourselves.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: When we are hurting, just say it.
26:04
SPEAKER_01: When we are thirsty, just say it.
26:06
SPEAKER_01: What in the heck is the use of hiding it?
26:09
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't make him look bad.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: It makes us look what we should be looking like.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: Needy sheep.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: But he doesn't tell thirsty people to pretend.
26:24
SPEAKER_01: He simply says, Come to me.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that what you said to your children when they wanted something, when they had a boo-boo, when they cried, when they needed their shoes tied, come come to me.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Come to me.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: This is what makes that declaration so remarkable.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: The water being brought into the temple was being brought into the temple, but Yeshua says, Come to me.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: They're seeing the acting for uh for the rehearsal for the need, they're seeing it, they're praying for it, they're right there, and he's he's right here, and he says, Come to me.
27:00
SPEAKER_01: The people had the feast, but he says, Come to me.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, but you know, when we celebrate these feasts, I see how, but I cannot see how you celebrate them without Yeshua.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: I don't.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't, I would not dare to stand on Yom Kippur and try to, in my own merit, ingratiate myself to the Lord.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: Come to me.
27:34
SPEAKER_01: The people had the feast, but he says, Come to me.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: They were celebrating, but he says, Come to me.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: The priests were pouring the water upon the altar, but Yeshua was offering a living water to the people.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: The ceremony pointed to the Lord's provision, but here he is, the one sent of the Father.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: And what are we to do?
27:52
SPEAKER_01: We're to believe him.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: But Yeshua stood there as the one in whom every promise is fulfilled.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: And then he says, Let him come to me and drink.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: You will not be satisfied simply watching me drink.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Your thirst cannot be quenched by me drinking.
28:12
SPEAKER_01: You must drink of him deeply.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: We need, all of us need that relationship with him.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: It's not an act that we look and watch a play and we go, yes, now I feel fulfilled.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: I feel no, we have to go to him and drink of him ourselves.
28:37
SPEAKER_01: It's not enough to admire the ceremony, it's not enough to admire the symbolism.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: Thirst must be personally answered.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: We must come to Yeshua, we must receive what he gives.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: Guess what?
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we don't like the flavor of Kool-Aid that He gives to us.
28:57
SPEAKER_01: What color do you want, kids?
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'm gonna give you this color.
29:00
SPEAKER_01: But Lord, I didn't want this one.
29:02
SPEAKER_01: I want that one.
29:04
SPEAKER_01: But I'm giving you what I know you need.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: But I know I need that one, but no, you need what I'm giving to you.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: How many of you have had that conversation before?
29:14
SPEAKER_01: My hand's the only one up right here.
29:16
SPEAKER_01: Huh?
29:18
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I like not this thyroid.
29:20
SPEAKER_01: Give me another thyroid.
29:22
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I like not these needs, give me other needs.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: But he says, you know, I'm going to give you what you need to complete the mission that I've called you to.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Remember, we're his.
29:32
SPEAKER_01: We're not our own.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: We come to Messiah, and grace, beloved friends, grace cannot be produced by human effort.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: Everything he gives to us, we receive by grace through faith.
29:47
SPEAKER_01: And it cannot be produced by human effort.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: And this is why John explains to us what this was, uh what this was picturing.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: As he says, he spake this or said this of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: You see, we receive it from him.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: We don't earn it, we don't merit it.
30:06
SPEAKER_01: When we are born again and believing on him, we then receive and are filled and are sealed by the Spirit of God.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: The promise is greater.
30:15
SPEAKER_01: That promise of the Holy Spirit is greater than the ceremony as beautiful as it, I'm sure it was.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: And then Yeshua says, out of his belly, out of his inmost parts, inmost being will flow not just a trickle of water, river.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: Not just a trickle, not just a drop, not just a little bit, but a trickle of water.
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SPEAKER_01: No?
30:47
SPEAKER_01: A river of water.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: It will flow out of us.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: But we thirst, we admit it, we acknowledge it.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: See, the direction has changed, beloved friends.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: The water was brought from the source and poured out at the altar.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: It was brought from the pool and it was brought and it was poured.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: But now the life of the Lord, the the life, the water of the Lord that is in us, the Spirit of God, comes from the believer, from us, from each of us, and flows out into those that the Lord has called us to impact.
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SPEAKER_01: We don't become the source.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: We're not the source.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: But he includes us in the work that he's doing.
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SPEAKER_01: We receive from him and it begins to flow out from others.
31:36
SPEAKER_01: Haven't you noticed that?
31:40
SPEAKER_01: Haven't you noticed?
31:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I you can be as dry as as the Sahara, but yet you still have water to pour out to others, life to give to others.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: Have you noticed that?
31:53
SPEAKER_01: What on earth is going on?
31:55
SPEAKER_01: What, what, why?
31:57
SPEAKER_01: You know, uh if you know me, you know, the greatest joy and privilege of my life is to teach the word of God.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: And there's something happen, something happens when you begin to do so.
32:14
SPEAKER_01: I'm not sitting in the chair, I'm not staring at the ceiling.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: It is an experience of taking that from that river that is flowing, and just saying, Lord, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna abide here a little while and take from this river, I'm gonna drink, because I'm thirsty.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm thirsty.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: And I don't see that as being unfaithful, I don't see that as being in disbelief, I see that as being someone who just hasn't learned to, as my dear sister Deanna Stevens says, Rabbi, you need to rest.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: You need to learn to rest.
33:01
SPEAKER_01: This is essentially especially fitting, I should say, on the eighth day, this day, this day today, the conclusion of this great feast.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: For seven days we remember that all of this is temporary.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: That we come along, come you know, the beautiful thing is that when you actually get into it and you you separate yourself for a while, you see how much how beautiful life is.
33:31
SPEAKER_01: When you separate yourself from the surroundings that are familiar, and you with maybe some apprehension, maybe some confusion, you begin to engage in life a little bit differently.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: And then you see the beauty of it as the Lord meets you there.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: But that eighth day again points us beyond the temporary, it points us into the supernatural, it points us to that day that we'll see.
34:00
SPEAKER_01: The waters of Sukkot point beyond itself to the living waters that are promised to us in the scripture.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: The temporary dwelling points beyond itself to the permanent dwelling of God.
34:13
SPEAKER_01: When we look in the biblical narrative, when we're looking at Revelation 21, he declares, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.
34:21
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you glad that it says that?
34:24
SPEAKER_01: And that the footnote is not that you've earned it.
34:28
SPEAKER_01: No, it's not that you have somehow ingratiated yourself to him to allow you in.
34:33
SPEAKER_01: Then Revelation 22, the final picture, the beautiful picture, the pure river of water, uh the water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of where the throne of God and of the Lamb.
34:47
SPEAKER_01: See what was anticipated in the wilderness, what was remembered at Sukkot, celebrated at Sukkot, and what the temple ceremony pictured, Messiah announced in Jerusalem.
34:59
SPEAKER_01: He stood.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: All of his I am, everything, all the statements, everything.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: He stood and said, If you are thirsty, come to me.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: He said, If we're tired, come to me.
35:17
SPEAKER_01: Why don't we take him up on that offer, beloved?
35:20
SPEAKER_01: We we need to go and say, Lord, Lord, I'm tired.
35:25
SPEAKER_01: Lord, I'm thirsty, Father.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: I need rest.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: I need rest.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: And he says, I'll give it to you.
35:35
SPEAKER_01: Messiah brought that right to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem it has gone out to the outermote parts of the world.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: But we see this throne of God and throne of the picture of the Lamb.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: Again, we see that in Revelation 7:9, where all of us together from every tribe, every time, every people, every nation are there celebrating.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: We're shouting hallelujah.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: We're dressed in white, we're there celebrating that we see saints from every century, we see saints from centuries past and centuries forward if you should tarry.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: But we're there celebrating and that one big, big, oh, that big uh festival.
36:17
SPEAKER_01: And then we rest with him.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: See, the priest trusts uh the priest pour water upon the altar, but Messiah offered the water for the thirsty.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: The feast celebrated the provision, but Messiah revealed himself as the source of the provision.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: And on that day, that glorious day, the river of the the river of the water of life will flow from the throne forever.
36:45
SPEAKER_01: But until that day, beloved friends, this is what I want you to take from this day forward.
36:53
SPEAKER_01: Undoubtedly, we have some dry days coming, undoubtedly we have some challenges before us as a nation, as a state, as a congregation.
37:02
SPEAKER_01: We will not escape that.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: But we take that invitation, we hold on to it.
37:08
SPEAKER_01: If anyone thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.
37:15
SPEAKER_01: Drink.
37:18
SPEAKER_01: Take it in.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: So we rejoice.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: We rejoice.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: Again, I say, rejoice, rejoice always, where in the Lord.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: And again I say, rejoice.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: Paul wrote that from prison, beloved.
37:33
SPEAKER_01: He wrote a prison letter, he gave us a letter and he commanded us to rejoice.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: Some of us need to find our joy and our freedom.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: We've received the promise, he's given it to us.
37:50
SPEAKER_01: And even if we stand now in a dry and a thirsty land, beloved friends, I don't see any of you as being dry and thirsty.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: I don't see any of you as being dried up and useless.
38:04
SPEAKER_01: As long as there's breath in you.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: What does the psalmist say in 150?
38:16
SPEAKER_01: Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
38:23
SPEAKER_01: That was always one of my favorite songs to start in synagogue.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: Because all we really sang was hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
38:36
SPEAKER_01: Is there breath in your bodies, beloved?
38:39
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: If there's breath in your body, you know what else is in there?
38:44
SPEAKER_01: Joy.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you glad?
38:49
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you glad that I'm gonna include this message?
38:57
SPEAKER_01: Aren't you because I am thirsty.
39:02
SPEAKER_01: But beloved friends, we're all filled, we are filled, we will be filled, and it's filled to overflowing, beloved friends.
39:10
SPEAKER_01: We're filled and we're satisfied by his grace and his mercy.
39:15
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know that I don't have all the answers, I don't know all the whys, I don't know why for on this occasion, on that occasion.
39:23
SPEAKER_01: All I know is the source, all I know is the one who loves us, all I know is the one who has beckoned us to come unto him.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: That's who I know, that's what I know.
39:32
SPEAKER_01: That is the end of it.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: And he's called us to come to drink, he's called us to come to rest.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: He's called us to come and be refreshed in him.
39:46
SPEAKER_01: So, beloved friends, I want you to hold this in your mind, hold this in your heart for whatever the day brings you tomorrow, the next day.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: And remember just what he is doing.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: He's moving us forward to that great day, the greater harvest that is to come.
40:11
SPEAKER_01: So let us, let us move forward in joy.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: Drink deeply of him, lean on each other.
40:25
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for studying with us, and until our next episode, may the Lord bless and keep you all in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.