Living water in the wilderness (Quality: Poor)

[0:00] The book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 41 verse 17 The 41st chapter in the book of the prophet Isaiah and the 17th verse When the poor and needy seek water and that there is none and that there come say this forsearch I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them The words of our text in their primary meaning refer to God's people of old who had been carried away captive into Babylon because of their sins and their iniquity

[1:09] After those 70 years had found fire God would in a wonderful way deliver them out of the land of Babylon and they should return to their own country And the way from Babylon to Jerusalem was through an arid desert A difficult journey it would be for them A place where they might not find any water Where their tongue might fail for thirst But the Lord promises to work miracles on their behalf

[2:15] Like he did for Israel of old When they journeyed from the land of Egypt to Canaan How wonderful God caused the waters to flow out of the rocks And for the space of 40 years During their wilderness journey Israel were well supplied with water And so God promises that his eyes should be upon his people As they thus return We have their character said before us in the text They were poor and needy

[3:19] No doubt this was literally true of them They would not be able to acquire riches During the time of their captivity And were doubtless very poor And very needy When they left Babylon But the Lord promises That as they cry unto him In their time of need He would bow down his ear graciously Unto them He would hearken To their petition And would mercifully Make provision for them We know

[4:20] By the language Of one of the little psalms How wonderful it was To the poor and needy Israelites When the Lord did turn their captivity Oh how they rejoiced How thankful they were to him For that wonderful interposition On their behalf Now they were A typical people And I believe Set forth In many particulars God's true And spiritual Israel By nature By nature All these Are in captivity

[5:20] They are held captive By sin And by Satan And sometimes And sometimes The poor things Realize That they are held captive By God's holy law Which they have broken They long They long Sometimes for liberty And fail To obtain it They are often thirsty And they thirst For blessings That this poor world Cannot afford them And all God's people Are experimentally Made to feel

[6:20] Their poverty And their need When the poor And needy Seek water Now How necessary Is water For Our bodies During our Life Here on earth How soon We should die If we Were not able To Quench Our thirst But God's dear people They seek Living waters They seek For those blessings Which are set forth In his

[7:21] Precious words But first of all They are made to feel That they are poor Do you and I feel Tonight That we are poor Spiritually poor Before that Great God And not only Poor But Needy When we look At these Two things Poverty And Need Why Such People Certainly Want Something Done For them They cannot Hope Hope To Merit God's

[8:21] Favor Or God's Blessing They cannot Give To God Anything By way Of Christ Or Merit For His Favors All All These For And Needy People Can do Is As help To Cry Unto The Lord They need Heavenly Help And Thus They Realize In Our Hearts That God Has Created A Spiritual Thirst My Friend It Is A Mercy To Be Feeling The Poor And Needy

[9:21] Before God And A Mercy It Is To Feel Deep Down Within Our Hearts A Real Thirsting For Those Blessed Crows And Promises Which Are Set For In God's Wonderful Words Of Life And Truth But There Is Then A Seeking Perhaps Tonight Some Of May Be More Less In Our First Seeking We May Not As Yet Have Received Anything Really From God That

[10:21] We Feel Has Produced Real Peace And Comfort And Satisfaction To Our Heart God Some Some Of You May Tonight Remember When You Were First Made A Seeker Before God There There Was A Time There Was A Time When You Felt No Need For Prayer When You Were Not In A Spiritual Way Thirsty When Your Heart And Your Affection Were Set Upon Things Below And You Thought Satisfaction In These Things Although You Could Not Find

[11:22] Any Real Satisfaction Yet Your Heart Were Set Upon Them But The Time Did Come When The Dear Lord Made You To Realize That There Was Death In All These Things That They Could Never Really Satisfy You That There Was One Thing That Is Really Needful And You Felt You Were Without This One Thing Needful But You Were Made To Realize That If You Live And Die Without Without Possessing This One Thing Needful You Would Be Lost Eternally And Thus You

[12:22] Commence Through God's Grace Through The Operation Of The Holy Spirit In Your Heart To Seek And To Seek Water Living Water That Water Which Comes From Heaven But You Say I Hope I Am A Seeker I Am Seeking For This Water But I Fail To Find It Oh I Dread The Awful Thought Of Death What If I Should Die Without Receiving This Living Water Earth

[13:22] What If I Seek And Seek And Never Find It My Dear Friends That's Impossible For A Sinner To Truly Seek For This Living Water And Not To Find It One Day It Would Be Contradictory To God's Holy Word To Entertain A Thought That A True Speaker Should At Last Be Disappointed The Lord Of Life And Glory Himself Says Seek And Ye Shall Find Knock And It Shall Be Open Unto You

[14:23] Ask And Ye Shall Receive And My Dear Friend God Is Never Contrary To His Holy Word Now If The Lord Should Bless These Few Simple Utterances Is Then You Would Be Encouraged To Go On Speaking And To Seek The Lord More Ardently Now When Do God's People Find So To Speak These Living Waters The Scriptures Inform Us We Seek Me With All Your Heart So The Time Does Come When It Such An Urgent Matter With These Poor Thirsty

[15:23] Sinners That They Feel They Must Have Drinks And If The Lord Deny Them This Living Water Then They Must Lay Down And Die They Must Give Up In Hopeless Despair I Believe That Our Holy Spirit Brings All God's Dear People To This Point Minds An Urgent Pressing Case If You Could Find A Poor Thing In The Desert And On The Point Of Dying Through Lack Of Water Why Gold Or Silver Land

[16:24] Or Pergis Would Not Comfort Them Would Not Relieve Them No They Would Say I Want Water To Quench My Search Mine Is An Urgent Pressing Case And That Just Where The Lord Brings All His Dear People I Believe He Brought That Woman At Samaria's Well To This Very Place And This Was Her Experience After The Lord Had Convinced Her Of Her Sin And Spoken To

[17:24] Her About Those Living Waters She Began To Seek For Them And I Believe She Certainly Found Them And So Will You But Do You Feel My Friends That There Is A Seeking For Them Do You Ever Have To Turn Aside Does A Cry Ever Go Up In Your Heart In The Night Watches Do You Ever Think About Your Latter End And How Very Sudden Death May Come To You And Find That There Is That Sheply Cating The Great God Of Heaven Oh

[18:26] For One Ship You Shave Of Those Living Waters Now What Is Signified By This Water When The Poor And Needy Seek Water I Believe First Of All There Is Set For The Sweet Sacred Influences Of The Holy Spirit

[19:27] To Come Into Your Heart Like Water Upon The Dry Clod The Hard Earth That He May Mercifully Dissolve Dissolve Those Hard Floods That You Feel Within Oh You Say That's What I Feel To Need I I Am So Hard Hearted I Sometimes Feel There Isn't Anything In Me That Can Take A Gracious Impression From The Lord There Isn't By Nature But When The Dear Holy Spirit Comes Into A Sinner's Heart Like Water Like Rain Upon

[20:27] The Dry And Thirsty Earth Then The Clods Break Down They Are Dissolved And That Sinner Fields Within That Tender Heart That Heart That Repentive Sin That True Humility Now You May Say Then Tonight That What You Need And What You Are Seeking For A Holy Ghost Religion The Work Of The Holy Spirit In Your Heart Now If You Are Seeking For This I Am Sure The Holy Spirit Is At Work In Your Heart God Otherwise You

[21:28] Would Never Feel Your Need Of His Influence And Grace A lot Of People Speak About God And Rightly So As The God Of Everlasting Love They Speak Of God's Wonderful Love To Sinners They Speak Sometimes Almost In Raptures About The Dear Lord Jesus Christ And That Wonderful Sacrifice That He Made On Calvary's Cross For The Sin Of His People But There Is Not That Personal Note No There Is Not That

[22:28] Real Deep Felt Need Of One Personal Interest In The Everlasting Love Of God And In The Wonderful Sacrifice Jesus Made They Speak The Truth So Far But Oh How Different With One That Is Made To Feel And To Know Their Poverty And Their Need Before God They Want A Little Real Religion A Little That Stand In In The Power Of The Holy Spirit That Gives Them Feelingly A Personal Interest In In The Precious Blood Of Jesus Now

[23:29] There's A Vast Difference Between Merely Talking About These Things And A Truth Seeking For Them And Those Who Truly Seek For A Personal Interest In Jesus Have The Gracious Influence Of The Holy Ghost Assisting Them So To Do Now Our Text Then Speaks Of These People As Seeking Water And I Believe The Gospel Is Shept For In Many Places In God's Word Under This Speaker Of Water And

[24:30] God's Dear People Then Are Seeking That They May Partake Or Drink Of This Precious Gospel We Read Of It As Being Living Waters We Read Of It As Being Perfectly Free To The Very Worst Of Sinners We Read Of Sinners Being Encouraged To To To Come To These Waters And To Partake Of Them And Even The Poor And Needy The Feelingly Destitute Are Encouraged To Come Come Who Everyone That

[25:31] Thirsty Come Ye To The Waters He That Has No Money Come Ye Buy And Eat yea come by wine and milk without money and without price what wonderful words they are and when a humble gracious seeker feels the preciousness of them how they are encouraged to come then to this full, free everlasting gospel do you feel tonight your need of it those glad tidings those wonderful tidings those best of all tidings to a poor unworthy dying sinner that there are those living waters and they will ever flow to the end of time however poor however needy you may feel to be you are encouraged by God's precious sacred word to seek for this water for the gospel and nothing else can really quench your thirst what is the gospel it is really my friends what I've already mentioned the everlasting love of God the Father it is that love that flows through his dear son the Lord Jesus Christ into the hearts of unworthy sinners this is the gospel this faithful shame that Christ Jesus can hinder the world to save sinners

[28:05] Paul said of whom I am chief and this gospel is an inviting gospel I like the invitations there are in God's word those invitations of course are always the character they are not universal as young people would make else but the dear Holy Ghost makes the sinner the character to whom these wonderful promises are made do you have a little feeling hope in your heart tonight my friend that the Holy Ghost has made you one of these characters to whom these sweet invitations are really given in the word come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest that's the gospel

[29:31] I believe that is set forth by the living waters in the sacred word of God when the poor and needy seek water the scriptures themselves in the hand of the dear Holy Spirit are living waters I believe many a dear child of God as they have read this blessed word have had a ship a drink by the way have been refreshed have been strengthened have been encouraged in reading the word there are some parts of the scriptures when I read them now

[30:37] I think of days that are past when I believe those words encourage me to seek that I might quench my thirst by it being favoured to partake of these waters words that encourage me to seek earnestly for these blessings then I believe there is the ministry and the mercy to come to God's house seeking for these waters to feel that you must have something from the dear Lord himself and many now in heaven

[31:42] I believe have had to praise God for the institution of the ministry although all God's servants are but portionful men they themselves are as dry as dry can be you can't get anything spiritually out of them themselves no God never designed that you should but they are so to speak the means which the dear Lord is used the channel the pipe through which this heavenly water has sometimes flowed thus some of you may have sat upon your seating chapel have entered the sanctuary of humble sheikah may be near to despair but oh how the

[32:59] Lord has blessed his word as his servant has been enabled to speak it how it has flowed into your heart made your heart glad one Easter Monday years back I heard one of the Lord servants preach about a precious Jesus having become an high priest of good things to come and oh how my heart rejoice how I was encouraged that day until towards the end of the day I felt I'm sure you'll get shaped to heaven when you die and I feel sure I shall get there at last there were living waters flowing that day through the ministry and

[34:10] I believe more than one humble sheikah found something to quench their thirst but the text says when the poor and needy seek water and there is none like one journeying through wilderness may see a marriage they hope that not far distant there may be a well where they may quench their thirst but they seem to fail to find it and it may be so with you poor sinner in your wilderness journey you're one of these poor and needy ones seeking water and you feel there is none you don't seem to get what you long for you do not seem to receive what you feel

[35:27] God has graciously promised a gift in his words one thing the Lord's time may not have come another thing perhaps you're not as yet so poverty stricken and so deeply feelingly indeed as you should be as the Holy Ghost will yet make you perhaps yours is not yet a real urgent pressing case though your speaking may be right and of the Spirit yet there somehow isn't that urgency about your case but the

[36:27] Lord and the Lord alone can produce that urgency in a portion of heart and it may well be that until that time comes you you won't find what you may even desire you may not receive from the Lord that which you believe he gives to his dear people but you see the case gets more serious in the text and so it does with God's people and their tongue faileth for thirst their poor tongue begins to swell all this seems a clear evidence that the end is not far distant oh says the poor sinner

[37:33] I'm afraid I shall die and die in this feelingly lost state and condition sometimes the Lord sends affliction he sends sorrow and he sends trouble and these things seem as it were to make their tongue to fail same evidences that the end is coming and their tongue faileth for thirst now look at the promise when God's dear people these poor and needy seekers get into such a plight as this into such trouble into such distress then says the

[38:42] Lord I will hear them I the Lord will hear them when they seem so far off when they seem on the very point of despair when they seem to utter that last cry so to speak before him then the Lord says I will hear why my dear friend yours is not a hopeless case cheer up poor sinner press on these waters are free oh they are full they not only quench the thirst but they cleanse and you may feel you need both tonight you need something that will quench your thirst and something that will cleanse you from all the guilt and guilt of shame now the

[39:57] Lord promises I will hear them what condescension on his path oh what mercy what love what grace what compassion on good path thus you promise to hear these poor unworthy sinners these needy sinners these thirsty sinners and he adds I the God of Israel will not forsake them no he condescends so graciously in his word sometimes he calls himself by the name of the God of Jacob then he calls himself by the name of the God of Israel I do love these things they're very simple but they're very wonderful they're things that

[41:08] God's dear people can understand however simple they may be God's people can understand these sweet simple truths the God of Jacob was a sinner but Jacob was a seeker Jacob was poor and needy but Jacob was a happy finder Jacob knew what it was to be thirsty but he knew what it was to have his thirst quenched by the love of God and by the grace of the dear Lord Jesus and thus God calls himself in our text by the name of the God of Israel that peculiar people that nation which

[42:13] God did choose for himself saying I will be their God and they shall be my people and thus he called himself by the name of the God of Israel and he hasn't changed his name and he never will and this if you are unable to lay hold upon it to understand it will encourage you poor sinner to come to this fountain of living waters I the God of Israel will not forsake them not forsake who the poor and needy those who are seeking heavenly water those who thirst but not as once they did the vain delights of earth to share those who thirst for living reality

[43:22] God will not forsake them and I do firmly believe this that all their life long God's people are poor and needy if they live to be 60 70 80 or 90 years of age they are still poor and needy and they are still seekers and they will be seekers all our life you might turn this back upon the speaker and say do you feel to be poor and needy are you still a seeker though you preach to us the truth of God my friend I do feel in God's sight poor and needy and

[44:25] I believe I do still have to see there are things I long for things I thirst for and only God can satisfy the longing show and I want him to satisfy myself and some of you who may be older than I am you feel tonight you are as poor and as needy as ever you were you feel as unworthy as ever you did you feel there is a need do to seek for these living waters an interest by faith in the dear Lord Jesus and in his precious love but may the

[45:32] Lord encourage us thus still to seek when the poor and needy seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth the search I the Lord will hear them I the God of Israel will not forsake them but our time is nearly gone we must leave these few things Amen