Jesus at the Feast of Booths Part 5: A New Era of the Holy Spirit - John 7:39

1:01We receive the invitation of the Messiah by believing in him. He gives an invitation, and we receive it by believing in him. Believing is drinking in the living water of his Spirit. So what John is going to do in the rest of chapter 7 is he's going to go on to describe the responses to Jesus' invitation. Anyone can come. One requirement, you must be thirsty. Thirsty with what he gives. And in verse 40 through 44, John's going to describe the crowd's response. And in verses 45 to 52, he's going to describe the Sanhedrin's response. But before we get there, John inserts his own parenthetical statement. And I love these. John is stopping the narrative for a moment to interject a personal thought of his own.

2:03And he inserts this because he wants to make sure that his readers, and that includes us, understand what Jesus said or what Jesus meant when he said these words. From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. John stops, puts in his little comment, so that you and I will have clarity exactly what this is. And the church would have clarity on what he means. So let's read our text this morning. There in verse 39. But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. And this is where we turn an exciting corner in the book of John. And from this point, On, two themes are going to emerge.

3:04One theme being the work of the Holy Spirit, and the second theme being glory, true glory. But it's here that John begins to teach us in more detail the work of the Holy Spirit. And it's very important that we appreciate what John says here and the rest of the gospel because John has a very unique perspective on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Unique, really, from pretty much the rest of the pages of Scripture, because John was there when Jesus taught about the Holy Spirit. He was one of those 12 that heard Jesus' teaching on it. He was there at Pentecost. He experienced the transformation that took place. And here he is writing in retrospect towards the end of the first century, and he knows that the church needs some instruction on the Holy Spirit. And so that's going to become a very important theme. You know, even Paul writes a bunch, writes quite a bit about the Holy Spirit, but Paul wasn't there in this inner circle of the 12. Paul wasn't there at Pentecost that we know of, and certainly not as a friend, right?

4:25So John has a very unique perspective. And I'm excited as. As the chapters roll on. But clearly, just as we stay in our text this morning, it's clear that John sees a new era, a new era of the Holy Spirit, an era where the Holy Spirit will operate in a greater capacity than he ever has before. And so, what I want us to do this morning, just looking at this text, begin understanding the work of the Spirit. The big word is pneumatology. That's the study of the Spirit. That's John's pneumatology. And I throw those words out there to not to confuse anybody, but so that you can learn an important term. But John is going to set forth his understanding of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit's role in our lives in the coming chapters. And here, here, he begins to speak of this new era. And so, I want us this morning to see three distinctions of the era of the Holy Spirit so that you will understand what he is doing in your life right now, because we live in that era. So, the first distinction, we're going to base this all on verse 39, and we're going to try to stay within the confines of verse 39 and make connections as are appropriate, but largely we're staying right here, and we want his understanding, we want John's thoughts to come. Out that he has communicated in this text. And friends, we don't need to be afraid where this takes us. Okay? He's revealing to us the Christ of Scripture, and we need to go where he goes. We do not need to be afraid.

6:17And I'm excited. But he makes three distinctions about this era of the Holy Spirit. The first is the nature of his work. It's going to describe the nature of the Holy Spirit's work during this era. Look back at verse 39. But this he spoke of the Spirit. We'll stop there. We have to ask ourselves the question: to what does the word this refer to? Well, it refers back to everything he just said in verses 37 and 38.

6:49If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. So Jesus describes the nature of the Holy Spirit's work in the new era by a metaphor. A period characterized by living water, flowing out of the inner beings of certain individuals. You know, Proverbs 4:23 mentioned last time, right, from the heart flow the springs of life. And so, The role of the Holy Spirit is going to be to minister in such a way that the springs of life are going to flow from within the inner beings of certain individuals. So then the question becomes: what is living water? Right? We've already answered this question a couple times in the gospel because it's already come up.

7:55But the short answer is: living water is the spirit of Christ Himself. It is not a force, it is not a substance, it is a person, He is a person, it is the Spirit of Christ Himself, the Spirit that God is well pleased in, the Spirit that needs to be in us. And He's already given us insight to this, given us some previews. Remember in John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus, You know what? Unless you're born of the water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of God. We spent a lot of time on that verse when we were there, so I'm not going to go into it now. A lot of different opinions about what is meant by water and spirit, but this much we can say for sure, or I am confident to say for sure, that the idea of that water and spirit carries the idea of cleansing and spiritual vitality. It certainly includes that. In other words, Sin must be dealt with before anyone can enter into the life of the Spirit. Water and Spirit, cleansing. But it's not just enough to have your sins forgiven. You must be infused with a life that comes from above. And in John 4, you remember, he's talking to the woman at the well, and he makes this comparison of living water to that of a flowing well rather than a stagnant cistern, right?

9:26Man without the Spirit is like a dead cistern, a pool, a stagnant pool of water, right? But man with the Spirit is like Jacob's well. It's like a well with a fresh source of water welling up inside it. So living water is the personal spirit of Christ himself. And this is what is needed in the soul of man. And Jesus makes it clear that the scriptures have promised this. So he's not just dreaming up this new era. He is talking about something that is promised in scripture in many places.

10:17Certainly, I believe it's mentioned in Isaiah 44. Now, just to give you a little context, you remember, by the time you get to Isaiah 39, or by the time Isaiah got to chapter 39, he has a deep longing for his country and for his people. He has a longing for a true God-inspired revival, and he sees no hope except in that. Okay? I think we can identify, right? We desire such a God-inspired revival in our own land, right? Something real, something from heaven. And in Isaiah 40, Isaiah begins to speak about such a coming revival in Israel. And in chapter 44, we read these words in verse 3: For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour out my spirit on your offspring, Israel, and my blessing on your descendants.

11:28And they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water. That's a prayer for national revival. That's a promise of real revival. Isn't that what every nation, isn't this what Israel wants? To be a people moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit, right? That's revival. Now think about. What's happening at the Feast of Booths, right? We've talked about this, and for seven days, they've been going down to the pool of Siloam. They've been drawing out this living water, they've been parading it with great ceremony up to the altar, and they've been pouring it out. That has been just a drama, has been this one dramatic procession that is a that's remembering God's promises to send such a revival, and it's a prayer that God would send such a revival. And what is the revival? I will pour out my spirit on your offspring. So that's what's going on all around when Jesus is uttering these words there in the temple.

12:59But just looking at our text this morning, we can conclude that the nature of the work of the Holy Spirit involves pouring Himself into thirsty souls and satisfying those thirsty souls and then using them as instruments to satisfy others. The one who drinks, the one who comes to me and drinks from his innermost being will come not only satisfaction. But he will become a channel of blessing to others. That's the picture. That's the metaphor that Jesus is using. So the work of the Holy Spirit in the new era is going to be accomplished through souls that Christ has personally satisfied. Come to me and drink, and you will be so satisfied that you will become a channel of blessing and satisfaction to others.

14:04And John's going to go on in the next chapter, in the following chapters, to describe more about the work of the Holy Spirit. And I'm excited to get there. In John 14, in fact, I want you to turn there because I do want you to see something in John 14. First of all, look at what he says in verse 16: I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper that he may be with you forever.

14:37What does that mean? That he will be with you forever. That is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see him or know him. But you know him because he abides with you. So you already know him because he abides with you, and then circle this, and will be in you. You see that? You already know him. He abides with you, but he will be in you. And this is very significant because when you look back at verse 2, let me just read verse 1 and 2. It's in a context where he is comforting the disciples that he's about to leave them. He says, Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you. For I go, circle those words. I go to prepare a place for you.

15:36I go. So here's a context where he is saying, I am leaving you, but I am sending one who is going to be with you and in you forever. His presence. In fact, how does Jesus abide with his people? By his spirit. Jesus himself promised, I will never leave you or forsake you. So what is he sending? He is sending his very own personal spirit. Going on in chapter 14, he goes on. In verse 26, he speaks about the role of the Spirit will be to teach you, to cause you to remember things. In chapter 15 and 26, he will testify about me, and you will testify. So, the role of the Holy Spirit is going to be testifying. In chapter 16 and verse 8, the Holy Spirit is going to come and he's going to convict the world. He's going to play a convicting ministry, sin, righteousness, and judgment. And in 16, 14, he speaks that he will glorify me. He will take of mine and disclose it to you. So, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we'll develop that more. A lot of good information to come that John is going to give us. But for now, let's go back to John chapter 7. Based upon our text this morning, it is sufficient to say that the nature of the Holy Spirit will be to satisfy souls and then to use these satisfied souls as a source of spiritual renewal and refreshing to others.

17:26The Holy Spirit in this new era is going to be a self-supplying spring of life to the believers in Christ. Ask you a question: Are you satisfied in Christ? Do you look to him? Is he your soul's desire? Is he your soul's satisfaction? Because if he is, your life will already have been set on its course. True ministry. Starts here, being satisfied with Christ and Christ alone. And then your ministry will take shape. Problem is, many of us look for satisfaction in life and things other than Christ.

18:17And when you do, you have nothing of the true source to nourish anybody. If your own soul is not satisfied in Christ and Christ alone, your ministry is a sham because you're proclaiming that which didn't even satisfy you. And this is the invitation: come to me, you who are thirsty, you who know you need something more than anything this world can offer, and come to Christ and believe. And there will be such a change in your inner being that it will flow out and it will set your life in motion. You'll be keeping up with it.

19:08So that's the nature of his work. Let's move on, shift gears, and look at the people involved in this work. Look back at verse 39. But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, that is, they were about to receive. And it's important to recognize they believed in him, those who believed in him. It's not just a believing in some fact of history that Christ did, even dying on the cross. Yes, he died on the cross, but it's not simply believing in the fact that he died on the cross. It's believing in the one who died on the cross and all that that implies. You're not married to just some facts of history. You're married to the Christ behind those facts of history and all that that relates in the present. Yes, he did die. Yes, he was resurrected. Yes, he is ascended. All those facts are true and right, and you must believe, but it's not just a relationship with the facts, it's a relationship with the person behind that and accepting all the implications that that has for you right now. And from out of that flows life worth living.

20:34You see, the work of the Holy Spirit in the new era will be accomplished through souls that Christ has personally satisfied. The people involved are those who were thirsty and are now satisfied in him. And the thirst that Jesus talked about is that intense longing for God himself. Which only the Spirit of God can create in the soul of man. The clean desire, the clean thirst. That is a work of the Spirit. Have you ever truly thirsted for God? Is your soul satisfied in Him and Him alone? Do you really believe in the Christ of Scripture?

21:26You see, man was created for union with God. And I think we all know there is no lasting satisfaction outside of that. Only believers in Jesus come to Him and drink from Him. And the meaning of the text is plain here: The Holy Spirit is for those who have believed in Him. Having believed, they are the ones who will receive the Holy Spirit. And the text is plain and straightforward on this. But the distinction I want to point out between this and Israel, between the church, the New Testament church and the Israel under the Mosaic covenant, the distinction is that the people under the New Covenant are believers.

22:27Only believers are part of the New covenant. Under the Mosaic covenant, if you were a male born in a Jewish home, you were made part of the covenant by circumcision. You were brought into the covenant. Whether you were a believer or not was immaterial. You were brought into the covenant. It had nothing to do with your personal faith. And so, as a result, there were many unbelievers under the Mosaic covenant. And even then, under the old covenant, there were those who believed in their own ability to keep the law.

23:04But under the Mosaic covenant, there were those who exercised faith, the ones who lived by faith, who understood where Scripture was pointing, and they obeyed out of faith. This was the faithful remnant that you keep seeing throughout. They lived by faith. And not faith in their own ability to carry out the law, but faith in God. But what I appreciate about this, as I study this, I appreciate how the Holy Spirit treats us as people. He doesn't just treat us as vehicles.

23:52He satisfies us. And then he gives us the privilege of letting us. Be a means to satisfy others. He doesn't say, oh, you know, I'm just going to use you for my purpose A, purpose B, purpose C. No, there's something more. He treats us as people. He's like, I'm going to satisfy you. And I'm going to satisfy you to such a degree that your life is going to overflow and be a blessing to others. That's where true ministry starts. A true relationship.

24:29We are called to be channels of blessings to others. But the emphasis of this text is not to go out and be a blessing. The goal is to come and drink from Christ. Be completely satisfied in Him, and He'll take care of the rest. It's a wonderful thing. He saves us from this fleeting world. This world is passing by, right? What do we do with our time? What's meaningful? What's good? What's lasting? Well, He saves us from this world that is rapidly passing by, and then He gives us something meaningful to do, something that will last.

25:07I love the Holy Spirit's work in our lives. Well, that's the people involved. So we're looking at three distinctions of the era of the Holy Spirit. The first is the nature of his work. The second, the people involved. And third, I want you to see the beginning of the era, when it actually begins. Look back at verse 39. But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. So the point that John makes, and very clear, is that the era of the Holy Spirit cannot begin until Jesus is glorified. A literal interpretation of this, a literal translation, would be, for not yet was the Spirit.

26:00And the translators put the word given in there. What is John saying? Well, certainly the Spirit was in this sense of existence. He was already existed. But what John is simply saying is that the Spirit is about to play a greater role in the lives of the new covenant people than he did in anything in history. And that leads us to a couple of questions. What was the work of the Holy Spirit up until this time? And second, when exactly was Jesus glorified?

26:38Well, what was the work of the Holy Spirit until Christ's glorification? Well, several aspects of the Holy Spirit's work in the Old Testament are clearly seen. Just a quick survey. You see in Genesis 1:2, the Spirit of God was involved in the creation of the world. Job 33, 4, the Spirit of God, God has made me in the breath of the Almighty gives me life. So throughout, the Holy Spirit has been part of the creating the world. He's also been very active in interacting with man. You see this very early in Genesis 6:3. My spirit shall not strive with man forever.

27:21He speaks through people, as in 2 Samuel 23, 1, speaking of the last words of David, the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me, and his word was on my tongue. So he spoke. You could do a survey of how the Holy Spirit worked prior to Christ's glorification, prior to his coming. I think we could sum it all up like this. The work of the Holy Spirit's work, or the work of the Holy Spirit prior to Christ's coming, was preparatory. He was preparing the world for its king.

28:01And so he set the stage for the coming of the king. He set the stage through prophecy, through promise, through covenant. He set the stage geopolitically by raising up kings and putting them down. He set the stage geographically, geopolitically. He set the customs. He set the language. He was the one guiding history. All of this was to prepare the world. For the coming of the Son, the Holy Spirit was in the world. He was with man.

28:39He was by man. He was sustaining man. He filled and strengthened men, but he was not indwelling man. He did not tabernacle in the hearts of his people. His presence was visible in the cloud of fire over the tabernacle, but he did not indwell in his people because that needed the work of the Son. So, when was Jesus glorified? When was Jesus glorified? Well, it's clear as you look through the pages of the New Testament. Jesus was glorified in his death, in his resurrection, and in his ascension to the right hand of the Father. And so, the era of the Holy Spirit could not begin until the era-transforming work of the Son. Once the era-transforming work of the Son had been done, then, once it was finished, then the Holy Spirit begins in a new capacity.

29:53Let's just look at each one of these: His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. His death. Brought about the fulfillment of everything that was represented and pointed to in the temple worship. His death brought about the knowledge that forgiveness isn't just a dream, it's a reality. The perfect lamb, God's justice perfectly satisfied. It's interesting as you look, the last piece of furniture that went into the tabernacle in Exodus 40, verse 33, was the veil. And when Christ yells out, it is finished, and he gave up his spirit, what's the first thing that gets ripped in two? A new era has begun, right?

30:53Christ is glorified there, right? Signaling a new era. His death also showed us the depths of humiliation, the depths of the humiliation of our king. And this is his glory. He used his limitless power to glorify God. That's what he did with what God gave him, right? This is Christ. He used his limited power, I mean, his limitless power to glorify God and to serve man. And the human concept of king. Or the human concept of greatness entered into a whole new era.

31:36Greatness in God's eyes is not flaunting your power, lording your power over somebody, or commanding obedience from people under you. It is using your power to please God and to serve those He loves. The whole concept of greatness entered into a whole new era. It took the disciples a while to get it. It took us a while to get it. It takes us a while to get it, right? If you want to be a great husband, if you want to be a great parent, a great friend, a great boss, a great supervisor, a great whatever, you fill in the blank.

32:23Understand Christ. Understand God's definition of greatness and come and drink from Him. But His resurrection also glorified Him. You see, the knowledge of the reality of the bodily resurrection of Christ catapulted us into a whole nother era of understanding of the resurrection. The curse truly had been turned back. Death has met its master. There is going to be a physical, bodily resurrection for sure. And up until that time, no one had come out of the grave for any length of time, right?

33:16But now someone has. He was glorified in his resurrection, but he's also glorified in his ascension. Think about this for a moment. Human flesh is now in God's presence, he is at the right hand. That's a new era, right? And we know. Let me say this: we really do know the personality of the Almighty. We know what he is like. We know that he loves. We know what he hates. We know he loves justice, self-sacrifice, he has compassion, and he's perfectly righteous. And he hates phony religion. You can go on down the line. We know what he's like. Now that's something to proclaim. Now we have something really to proclaim. And so, proclamation of what God is like entered into a whole nother era. Because of the perfect revelation in Christ, it's not that God changed at all, but he revealed himself in greater measure.

34:31You see, we know the personality of the Holy Spirit. He's just like the Christ of Scripture. You see, the personality of the Holy Spirit, he is the abiding presence of the risen Christ always. That's who he is. You see, one of our biggest problems is we have a problem distinguishing between, well, is that the Holy Spirit, or was that my own Spirit, right? Was that the Spirit? Was that my Spirit? In fact, I remember an occasion where this man, this young man, was saying, you know what? I saw this girl go by, beautiful girl go by, and I heard the Holy Spirit say with me, say within me, isn't she beautiful? And I hear this voice from this other young lady says, That was not the Holy Spirit. That were your hormones.

35:31And then he responds, no, it wasn't. That was the Holy Spirit. And then he says, and I'm angry, right? With a holy anger, right? Yeah, that too is not, right? Within the holy anger, half the time, our holy angers are our own angers, right? But the distinction between the Spirit and our Spirit is our Spirit seeks to glorify ourselves. Celebrate me. That's why we get. So defensive when we're personally assaulted, we want to promote ourselves and our own interests, and if anything gets in the way of that, we react, right? That's not holy, that's our spirit. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, seeks to glorify the Father through the Son.

36:20He is poured out to glorify the Father in the Son. He doesn't glorify fallen man. So there's a place where we can start distinguishing between our spirits and the Holy Spirit, right? And as you grow, you learn more and more about how to recognize when, no, that's my spirit trying to get my way, trying to advance my cause, trying to serve myself. And that needs to be turned away from. I need to turn and find my satisfaction in Christ, not in my self-worship. And so, come to John here, and we start turning another corner: a theology of glory. There's a kind of glory that means nothing, and there's a kind of glory that means everything. And John's going to be talking about that in the chapters to come as well. But to give you a preview, in John 8:54, Jesus said, If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. There's a glory that's nothing, right? If we have to promote ourselves, advance ourselves, that kind of glory is nothing.

37:26It is the Father who glorifies me. Such is the glory that the Father gave the Son. You see, true glory in John's gospel is seen not in outward splendor that commands the praise of men, but in the lowliness with which the Son of God lived among us and suffered for us. That's his glory. Miracles certainly displayed a level of Christ's glory, that's for sure. But what John sees, he sees in a much deeper sense. The cross of shame is what displayed a far greater glory than anything else he did.

38:12So, does anyone want to follow someone like this? Does anyone want to follow somebody who will lay down his own life? Does anybody want to follow a person that prefers humiliation, shame, and crucifixion to great pomp and pageantry? Does anybody want to follow such a Messiah? Not really. And then he tells us, go make disciples of all the nations. Teach them to take up their cross and follow after me. I'm not about advancing myself. I'm about advancing the glory of God. Does anybody want to follow? Such a Christ?

39:04Not really. The fact that anyone would want to truly follow such a Christ is a work of the Spirit of God and God alone. It's not within us. It's incredible. Pentecost comes 50 days after the first fruits, right? 50 days after Christ comes out of the grave, right? Pentecost is celebrated, and it commemorates the occasion when God gives the law at Sinai. And God in His providence set that time to be the point at which God would send His Spirit, the Spirit that loves, the Spirit that's necessary to obey the righteous standards of God's law. He sins on Pentecost, and a new era began, right?

40:00I'm going to quote to you a German Hingstenberg. I don't know if I said it right. Hengstenberg quotes Luther as saying this in reference to these verses: He that comes to me shall be so furnished with the Holy Spirit that he shall not only be quickened and refreshed himself and delivered from thirst, but he shall also be a strong stone. Vessel from which the Holy Spirit in all his gifts shall flow to others, refreshing, comforting, and strengthening them, even as he was refreshed by me. So Peter, on the day of Pentecost, by one sermon, as by a rush of water, delivered 3,000 men from the devil's kingdom, washing them in an hour from sin, death, and Satan. And Heinstenberg goes on to say this. This was only the first exhibition of a glorious power or peculiarity that distinguishes the church. The church has a living impulse which will diffuse the life within her even to the ends of the earth. There is an impulse within those who have been satisfied by Christ to share, to flow, to give, to bless. It's an impulse.

41:33It's put there by the Spirit of God. In fact, it's a matter of history, simple fact of history. The apostles were quite different men after Pentecost than they were before. Before they saw, they spoke, and they acted like men, or they acted like children, I should say, before Pentecost. Pentecost, they acted like children. But after the ascension, they spoke and they acted like grown men. And it's because of this increased light, this increased knowledge, and this increased soul satisfaction that made them such a blessing to the world and an unstoppable blessing. Water flows, it goes where it wills.

42:28You see, Pentecost wasn't so much about the flow of the miraculous as it was the overflow of a relationship between God and man. That's what Pentecost was about. A relationship that took place deep within, a satisfaction that was so deep, so rich, it had to come up, come out, and go throughout the whole world. That's what the Holy Spirit's doing. You see, the journey of a soul, I think we can see ourselves here. You see, the disciples had to understand the work of the Son before they were ready for the work of the Spirit in their own lives.

43:11Same is true for us. We must put our faith and trust in the Son, in the work of the Son, before we're ready for the Holy Spirit's new era work in our own life. All right? Well, this morning we've looked at three distinctions. Of this era of the Holy Spirit. We've looked at the nature of his work, the people involved in his work. We looked at the beginning of the era. But it's all about a soul being satisfied and coming out of that satisfaction, an overflow of great power.

43:53So I come back to the question: Are you satisfied in Christ? You see, a great power can exist for years, right, even centuries, without men really being able to tap into it. Think about, for instance, atomic energy. I grew up in a little town called Los Alamos, New Mexico. We tapped into atomic power, but we didn't create it, right? It was there all along. Is your soul satisfied in Christ? That is where you need to keep coming, that is where you need to keep drinking.

44:43And the issues of your life will take their own course. A true ministry starts here. I'll be very candid with you for just a moment. I asked myself. Sometimes, why in the world do I stay in ministry? I am not half the pastor I'd like to be. My sermons I feel are inadequate much of the time. Sometimes I say the things that I wish I hadn't said. I don't stay in the ministry because I think I'm good at it. I think, honestly, I was a lot better engineer than I am pastor.

45:35Why do I stay? Because my soul has been satisfied in Christ, and I can't help but be about his business. You can think about that and apply that across the board to any of our lives, right? A satisfied soul will be a blessing. And so I want to end with Christ's invitation again. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

46:30Are you satisfied in Christ? The invitation that he gives is for you to come and be satisfied in him. Just start. Just come. Say, you know what? I'm going to come. And I'm going to find my satisfaction in Christ alone because he bids me to come. He says he will give me satisfaction. So I come believing, and that's me. I hope all of us will make that deep heart resolution today and just believe. Come. Let's pray.

47:08Heavenly Father, help us feel our thirst. Help us sense our need for you. Father, forgive us where we have looked to others, where we have went after other things, trying to satisfy what only you can satisfy. You know our hearts, you created us, and you know we were made for a relationship with you, and nothing is right until that relationship is restored, renewed. So, Father, forgive us. Help us come. Help us believe. Help us drink deeply. We're at your mercy. In Jesus' name, amen.