Message Ten

The Call to the Thirsty Ones
to Come to the Waters

Scripture Reading: Isa. 55:1-4; Jer. 2:13; Psa. 36:8-9; 46:4;
John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1; 7:17

Isa. 55:1-4 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price. ²Why do you spend money for what is not bread, / And the result of your labor for what does not satisfy? / Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, / And let your soul delight itself in fatness. ³Incline your ear and come to Me; / Hear, so that your soul may live; / And I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David. ⁴Indeed, I have given Him as a Witness to the peoples, / A Leader and a Commander to the peoples.

Jer. 2:13 For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water.

Psa. 36:8-9 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. ⁹For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

Psa. 46:4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, / The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

I. In the Scriptures there is a line concerning the river of water of life—Gen. 2:10; Psa. 36:8-9; 46:4; John 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1:

Gen. 2:10 And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches.

Psa. 36:8-9 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. ⁹For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

Psa. 46:4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, / The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

A. The river in Genesis 2:10 signifies the river of water of life, along which the tree of life grows; this river quenches man’s thirst.

Gen. 2:10 And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches.

B. In Psalm 36:8-9 the fountain refers to the Father as the source of life, and the river refers to the Spirit as the river of water of life—John 1:4; 7:37-39.

Psa. 36:8-9 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. ⁹For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

C. The river in Psalm 46:4 signifies the flow of the Triune God in Christ through the Spirit as life to God’s people.

Psa. 46:4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, / The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

D. Revelation 22:1 speaks of the river of water of life:

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

1. The river, typified by the rivers in Genesis 2:10-14, Psalm 46:4, and Ezekiel 47:5-9, signifies the abundance of life in its flow; as indicated in John 7:38, this one river with its riches becomes many rivers in our experience of the different aspects of the riches of God’s Spirit of life—Rom. 8:2; 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23.

Gen. 2:10-14 And a river went forth from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches. ¹¹The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that goes around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹²And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. ¹³And the name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that goes around the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one that goes east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Psa. 46:4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, / The holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

Ezek. 47:5-9 Then He measured a thousand cubits, and it was a river that I could not pass through; for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be crossed. ⁶And He said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then He led me and brought me back along the bank of the river. ⁷And when I returned, there were very many trees on the bank of the river, on one side and on the other. ⁸Then said He to me, This water flows out toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah and goes to the sea; when it flows into the sea, the water of the sea is healed. ⁹And every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes shall live, and there will be very many fish when this water comes there. And the water of the sea shall be healed, and everything shall live wherever the river comes.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

Rom. 15:30 Now I exhort you, brothers, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf,

1 Thes. 1:6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit,

2 Thes. 2:13 But we ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers beloved of the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,

Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³Meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

2. The water of life is a symbol of God in Christ as the Spirit flowing Himself into His redeemed people to be their life and life supply; it is typified by the water that flowed out of the riven rock (Exo. 17:6; Num. 20:11) and symbolized by the water that flowed out of the pierced side of the Lord Jesus (John 19:34).

Exo. 17:6 I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Num. 20:11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his rod twice; and abundant water came forth, and the assembly and their livestock drank.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.

II. God’s good pleasure, the desire of His heart, is to be the fountain of living waters to dispense Himself into His chosen people so that they would become His increase as His fullness for His expression—Jer. 2:13; Eph. 1:4-5, 9, 22-23; 3:16-19:

Jer. 2:13 For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water.

Eph. 1:4-5 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, ⁵Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Eph. 1:9 Making known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Himself,

Eph. 1:22-23 And He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him to be Head over all things to the church, ²³Which is His Body, the fullness of the One who fills all in all.

Eph. 3:16-19 That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man, ¹⁷That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸May be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth and length and height and depth are ¹⁹And to know the knowledge-surpassing love of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

A. God’s intention was to dispense Himself into man as man’s enjoyment and satisfaction for God’s corporate expression, but man became unfaithful and forsook God for idols—Jer. 2:13.

Jer. 2:13 For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water.

B. Israel should have drunk of God as the fountain of living waters so that they might become His expression, but Israel fell by forsaking God as the fountain of living waters and turning to a source other than God, signified by the cisterns, which Israel labored to hew out for themselves—v. 13.

C. Apart from God as the fountain of living waters, nothing can quench our thirst and satisfy us—John 4:14; 6:35; 7:37-38; Rev. 22:17.

John 4:14 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst.

John 7:37-38 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

D. Nothing apart from God Himself as the fountain of living waters can make us His increase for His corporate expression—Rom. 8:2, 10-11; 12:4-5.

Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

Rom. 8:10-11 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

Rom. 12:4-5 For just as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

III. In the book of Isaiah, God considers that He is our salvation as living waters—12:3; 55:1-2:

Isa. 12:3 Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation,

Isa. 55:1-2 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price. ²Why do you spend money for what is not bread, / And the result of your labor for what does not satisfy? / Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, / And let your soul delight itself in fatness.

A. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament show that God’s practical salvation is the processed Triune God Himself as the living water—Isa. 12:2-3; 55:1; Rev. 7:10, 14, 17; 21:6; 22:1, 17.

Isa. 12:2-3 God is now my salvation; / I will trust and not dread; / For Jah Jehovah is my strength and song, / And He has become my salvation. ³Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation,

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

Rev. 7:10 And they cry with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb.

Rev. 7:14 And I said to him, My lord, you know. And he said to me, These are those who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Rev. 21:6 And He said to me, They have come to pass. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely.

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

B. To be our salvation, the Triune God was processed to become the life-giving Spirit as the living water, the water of life—1 Cor. 15:45b; John 7:37-39:

1 Cor. 15:45b the last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.

1. The waters in Isaiah 55:1 and Revelation 22:17 are the redeeming God, the very God who accomplished redemption for us through His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection.

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

2. In totality, what Christ is and has accomplished is just the divine water, which is the consummated Spirit as the consummation of the Triune God for us to drink and enjoy—Isa. 55:1; John 7:37-39; 1 Cor. 12:13.

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

1 Cor. 12:13 For also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and were all given to drink one Spirit.

IV. We need to enjoy our God as living water, even as the waters—Isa. 55:1:

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

A. In Isaiah 55 the most striking word is waters; this word reveals that we may enjoy God not only in one aspect but in many aspects—v. 1.

B. The thought here is similar to that in John 7:38, which speaks of rivers of living water flowing out of the innermost being of the one who believes into the Lord Jesus; these rivers are the many flows of the different aspects of the divine life.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

C. In order to enjoy God as the waters by continually drinking of Him, we, who are sinners, need redemption:

1. This redemption is revealed in Isaiah 53, a chapter that reveals more of God’s dynamic redemption than any other chapter of the Bible.

2. The record concerning this accomplished redemption in chapter 53 is followed in chapter 55 by the invitation to the thirsty ones to come to the waters and drink—v. 1.

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

D. The call in Isaiah 55:1 is like that in Revelation 22:17, where the Spirit and the bride yearn that the thirsty sinner will come to take the water of life for his satisfaction.

Rev. 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

V. The waters are both the eternal covenant and the sure mercies shown to David—Isa. 55:1, 3-4:

Isa. 55:1 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price.

Isa. 55:3-4 Incline your ear and come to Me; / Hear, so that your soul may live; / And I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David. ⁴Indeed, I have given Him as a Witness to the peoples, / A Leader and a Commander to the peoples.

A. As the embodiment of the Triune God as the living waters (John 4:10, 14; 7:37-38), Christ is an eternal covenant to Israel (Isa. 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 61:8b), even the sure mercies shown to David—55:1-3.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.

Isa. 42:6 I am Jehovah; I have called You in righteousness; / I have held You by the hand; / I have kept You and I have given You / As a covenant for the people, as a light for the nations;

Isa. 49:8 Thus says Jehovah, / In an acceptable time I have answered You, / And in a day of salvation I have helped You; / And I will preserve You and give You for a covenant of the people, / To restore the land, to apportion the desolate inheritances,

Isa. 54:10 For the mountains may depart, / And the hills may shake, / But My lovingkindness will not depart from you, / And My covenant of peace will not shake, / Says Jehovah who has compassion on you.

Isa. 61:8b And I will faithfully give them their recompense, / And I will make an eternal covenant with them.

Isa. 55:1-3 Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, / And you who have no money; / Come, buy and eat; / Yes, come, buy wine and milk / Without money and without price. ²Why do you spend money for what is not bread, / And the result of your labor for what does not satisfy? / Hear Me attentively, and eat what is good, / And let your soul delight itself in fatness. ³Incline your ear and come to Me; / Hear, so that your soul may live; / And I will make an eternal covenant with you, / Even the sure mercies shown to David.

B. Christ is both the sure mercies and the eternal covenant that guarantees these mercies—vv. 3-4:

1. Because our situation was miserable and we could not match God’s grace, Christ, the embodiment of God’s grace (John 1:14, 17), became the sure mercies, and through these mercies we are now in the proper position to match God and receive Him as grace (Eph. 2:4).

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ.

Eph. 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

2. In Christ as the sure mercies, God reaches us in His grace to be our enjoyment—John 1:1, 4, 14, 16.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.

John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

VI. In eternity Christ the Lamb as our Shepherd will guide us to springs of waters of life—Rev. 7:17:

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

A. Springs of waters of life refers to many different springs as waters of life, and, as in John 7:38 and Revelation 22:1, it refers to the unique water of life in different aspects; this indicates that there will be a unique river of water of life that issues in many rivers for our enjoyment.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

Rev. 22:1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the middle of its street.

B. As the Lamb shepherds and guides us to springs of waters of life, He brings us into God Himself, and we gain the supply of living water, which is God Himself—7:17.

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

C. We need to praise the Lord for bringing us to the church, where there is a fountain that is God Himself, the source of living water—Psa. 36:8-9:

Psa. 36:8-9 They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. ⁹For with You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light.

1. This living water flows unceasingly so that it fills us to the point of overflowing—John 4:14; 7:38.

John 7:38 He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.

2. When we are full of this thirst-quenching water, we can overcome whatever comes across our path; by the living water out of the springs, we can overcome all things—Rev. 7:17; 3:21.

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Rev. 3:21 He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.