In this sermon, the preacher discusses the nature of pleasure and how it is divided into three parts: anticipation, realization, and reminiscence. He emphasizes that anticipation is the greatest part of pleasure. The preacher also shares a story of a man who had achieved all his ambitions in seeing the places he wanted to see, but still felt an emptiness inside. The preacher then poses the question of whether material things can truly satisfy, and highlights the need of the human heart that is not fulfilled by human relationships or religious rituals.

Tonight I want to read a very challenging statement made by our Lord. But I want to take a special note off and put it in its proper setting, and I think you'll appreciate it better. The statement is found in John chapter 7. The Gospel according to St. John, chapter 7, verse 37. In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this say he of the Spirit, and the Spirit of course is catalyzed, which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because the Jesus was not yet glorified. Our Lord was a great user of parables. He was a great user of figures. Figures and illustrations and parables are like windows, they let in the light. And our Lord was a great storyteller, and each story, each parable had a very, very definite and very wonderful meaning. Now, he is using figure here. I'm not supposed, and I don't suppose that you suppose, that he had a large container of water. And made it his purpose at the last great day of the feast to say, Now come, if you're thirsty, and I'll give you something to drink. I don't think that for a moment. We have to spiritualize this. He is using a figure. Thirst denotes unfulfilled, unsatisfied human desires. Many, many times in the Bible, our Lord Jesus Christ uses the figure of thirst to show us our need of him, and how he himself can satisfy that thirst. And that thirst is a very real thing, because we know what thirst is. It's a longing desire, and there's nothing that will satisfy when you're thirsty except a drink of cool, cool water. Or something similarly refreshing. Now, our Lord Jesus here, on this last great day of the feast, makes this wonderful, wonderful statement. If any man thirsts, let him come unto me, and drink. Now, we know this is not literal, because of what follows. He that believeth on me, Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now, you know this is not literal. And then we're told what he means, that this sake is the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, the cause of Jesus was not yet glorified. Now, this last great day of the feast, now we're going to relate this to the context. We're going to tell the story. And it will enhance, I think, the meaning of the Lord's Word. It will make them more important to us. This was the Feast of Tabernacles. At the beginning of this chapter, we read verse 1, After these things Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. Now, the Jews' Feast of Passover, of Tabernacles, I'm sorry, I'm going to mention the Feast of Passover, but we're not ready for it yet. Now, the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. Didst thou do these things, show thyself to the world, for neither did his brethren believe on thee. Then said Jesus unto them, My time is not yet come, but your time is already ready. The world cannot hate me, hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil. Go ye unto this feast, I go not yet up unto this feast, for my time is not yet full come. When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in Galilee. But when his brothers were gone up, this is significant, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret. This was the Feast of Tabernacles, the last feast day of the year. The holidays in Israel's history were called Feast Days. We begin with the first feast of the year, which was in April, was of the Passover. Following that was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then there was the first Feast of the Firstfruits, when the first grain became ripe. Then there was the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after that there was the Feast of Pentecost. Then that ended the feast in the spring, in the fall. Then the feast began again on October 1st, which was the Feast of the Blowing of Trumpets. And then on the tenth day of that seventh month, which is our October, there was the Day of Atonement. That was a tremendous day in the history of Israel. They call it Yom Kippur now. And then on the fifteenth day of October, there was the Feast of Tabernacles, this feast of which we are talking this evening. The Feast of Tabernacles, and it lasted seven long days. Quite a feast day, quite a holiday. Now, this was a time of year when all of the people of Israel went up to Jerusalem. They were commanded by the Law of Moses to all of the males, at least, go up to Jerusalem three times a year. One of them was at the Feast of the Passover. And then they were to go up at the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. And then they were to go up at this time of year, at the Feast of Tabernacles. And the reason that they called it Tabernacles was because they built booths. This was strange, but I think it must have delighted the children, absolutely delighted them. Because they built little booths out of branches and trees, and they dwelt in them. And this was to remind them that at once in their history they were a pilgrim people. They didn't have their stone houses as they did later in the land of Canaan. And this was to be observed. They all went outdoors. It must have been a happy time, and the children must have delighted in it, and they camped out. They built these tabernacles, or these booths, at the Feast of Tabernacles. And they would be out there for a whole week. And that was to remind them that they were pilgrims. That they didn't have, they really didn't belong to this earth, that they weren't just pilgrims. And this was that feast. Now all of Israel, and often times, the ladies went along. Now on one of those occasions you will recall, when they went up to Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus went with his parents at the age of 12. The only time his wife is touched upon, between the time he was a baby in the manger, or not a baby in the manger, he was in the house, we see him after that. We see him going to Egypt and back to escape the wrath of Herod. At the age of 12, he went up with his parents to Jerusalem. I don't know which feast it was, but they went up, and Joseph and Mary, his foster father and his mother, returned and they made a day's journey out of Jerusalem, going back home. And they looked around among their relatives, and the lad Christ was not among them. He is buried behind in Jerusalem. Now they had gone a whole day. This will give you some idea of what took place on those pilgrimages. There were so many relatives and so many children, and they were having such a good time, that they just supposed that he was tagging along back with the children. But he wasn't. He was in Jerusalem talking with the doctors of law, asking them questions and profounding questions, and they were amazed at his wisdom. Now this gives us a hint. This was on one of these pilgrimages, three times a year, when they went up to Jerusalem. Now that would be a joyous occasion, to meet your family and your friends, and get together on one of these feast days three times a year. I think probably the nearest holiday that we have that corresponds to this, is a real family day, Christmas. My people do like to get together at Christmas time. It is a family holiday. Strangely enough, there are more suicides at Christmas time than any other time of the year. Poor, lonely people feel the lack of love and human companionship so much, at the end of their lives. This is a statistical fact. Now it would be a time of joy to go up to Jerusalem with your family. How soul satisfying it is to be with loved ones, especially those of mutual interest. And they would be going up for a definite purpose, to worship the Lord. They would have everything that would bring joy that we think of as being soul satisfying. To see loved ones. And it is pleasurable to see them. And this would be a definite time of pleasure for these people. Is it possible that there could be a thirsty heart after all those family reunions? Would it be possible that somebody had a felt need in their soul that wouldn't be satisfied by family relationships? The Lord Jesus stood the last day, the great day of the feast. Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. Yes, it would be possible. Now this was after the vintage. This was in October. All of the crops would be in. Do you know the scripture speaks of the joy of harvest? And there is a real joy of seeing the grain come in and seeing the fruits of the garden come in. I recall in my days, this will date me, but so be it. I'll tell the story anyway. I remember when my folks, when my wife's folks lived out on the farm, they had what they called the cave. It was a fruit cellar. And they didn't have supermarkets in those days like we have today. You bought your sugar out of a barrel. And they packed it and waited for you. And you didn't have the supermarkets that you have today. And I realized how so satisfying it was to go into that cave and smell those apples. And to see the potatoes piled up in one corner. And to see the various pumpkins and squash piled in their places where they were nice and cool. And you knew when the snow was flying that the path would be beaten to the cave. And you would draw out those good things and they would be jars upon jars upon jars of canned tomatoes and the different things the ladies take pride in. And there they would be on those shelves all ready for the winter. How so satisfying is a harvest? Harvest is a wonderful time. I remember helping my prospective father-in-law in those days with his potato harvest. I was going with my wife and they were kind enough to invite me out. So I helped him with the potato harvest. And I really derived a good deal of pleasure from seeing those nice potatoes come out of the ground. They had a potato plow that shook the potatoes, the dirt that was in the potatoes, and spread them out on the side. And I could see that raw potato there. I thought it was pure delight for me to pick up potatoes. Can you imagine that? Anybody finding pleasure in that kind of thing? I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it full and I worked hard. I was trying to make an impression, I'll admit it. But they got production out of me, believe me. But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the harvest time. And to go down there, and now of course you don't have that pleasure. You go to the supermarket, and we have a lovely supermarket in Greenfield. And you go up and down those aisles and look at those beautiful displays and you say, what in the world am I going to have to suffer? You didn't have to worry so much in those days. But harvest is a time of joy. And particularly for the children of Israel, it was a time of joy. And the scripture speaks of it. I could turn you to a psalm and speak of the joy of harvest. It was a real joy. Now is it possible that a child, one of the children of Israel, after reaping his harvest and leaving a few servants at home to take care of the things at home, that he could go out to Jerusalem knowing that he had plenty to eat all winter long and still there would be an antenna in his heart that could be defined as thirst? Do material things satisfy? No, they don't. Material things do not satisfy. I once read of a man who committed suicide because his personal fortune had shrunk to 20 million. And he couldn't face his friends. He must have had a lot to begin with. Material things don't satisfy. It was on the last day of the feast, the Lord says, you still thirsty? Come unto me and drink. I've been satisfied. It was a wonderful time of year. It was a religious time of year. Now when all the male went up to Jerusalem at this time of year, they were not to go off empty. They took up their tithes to Jerusalem. They took up their sacrifices. They performed the Jewish sacrifices and they had the satisfaction of doing what God had told them to do, as good Jewish people. They would go up there with their sacrifices and with those tithes and present them to the Lord. And that must have brought them a good deal of satisfaction. Religious observance. Is it possible that religious observance will bring satisfaction? Well, I think we all appreciate being good once in a while to other people. Helping old ladies across the street. Pardon me, that is Boy Scout language. Assisting elderly ladies across the street. You feel like reaching up and adjusting your halo. Doing nice things for people. It does kind of bring satisfaction, doesn't it? Don't you like to be nice? Do little favors for people. It's nice, isn't it? Well, that's what they did. They took their tithes up at this time of year to Jerusalem. They went through all the Jewish rites and rituals. If religion could satisfy them, they should have been satisfied. And yet it was on the last great day of the feast that the Lord stood and cried, If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. There is that need of the human heart that is not satisfied with human relationships, however beautiful they may be. There's something still unfulfilled. There is the joy of harvest, the joy of plenty. And we like it and we have it in America, thank God. But that doesn't always satisfy. Religion may satisfy for a while, but religion will never satisfy the human heart. I recall in my religious days, before I really come to know the Lord, Now you may think that that's rather a paradox, but it isn't. It's the truth. I didn't know the Lord. I wasn't saved. I was religious, but I didn't know, did not have a personal relationship with Christ. Most of my knowledge was academic. It was not an experience of conviction. Now, I know as well as you do, that there was a lot of satisfaction in that. But it really doesn't satisfy the heart. There is a thirst that we have that only the Lord himself can satisfy. He's made us thirsty so that he might meet our thirst, our soul's need. I remember the story of a little girl on one occasion. Her mother left her with her auntie. Maybe you've heard me tell this story before. If you have, don't stop me. She went up and stayed with her auntie. And her mother was gone a long time. And the little girl became a little concerned for her mother. And she went to her auntie and she said, auntie, I'm thirsty. And her auntie said, well, darling, you know where the faucet is. Go get yourself some water. So she disappeared. She came back after a while. And she says, auntie, I'm still thirsty. Well, did you go to get a drink? Well, no. Well, my dear, go get yourself some water. She disappeared. She came back and she said again, auntie, I'm still thirsty. And her auntie became quite out of sorts with her and chided her. She was bothering her. Why don't you do what I tell you to do? Oh, auntie, she says, you don't understand. I'm thirsty for my mom. She had it pegged, didn't she? She would have understood what the Lord was talking about. She had an unfulfilled desire in her heart. And as a child, she was intelligent enough to recognize I'm thirsty for my mama. I heard of Ixchep by a fine young man once at a youth camp where I was speaking out in New Mexico a number of years ago. We had a young people's conference in camp and we had a boy that came to the camp under some very unusual circumstances. There were two boys. We had a very fine young counselor that rode to the camp on a bus, a Greyhound or whatever it was, a railway. And on this bus, he met two young men that were just traveling over the interstate. They were from Minnesota. One of them was Swedish. His name was Odin Engelking. And if that isn't Swedish, I've never heard of a Swedish name. Odin and his buddy were traveling over the United States. When they would run out of money, they'd stop and work a while and make some money and then they'd go on. They were on a lark. They were just seeing the country. Well, they got to talking together on the bus and this counselor said, look fellas, I'm going up here to a youth camp. And he said, why don't you come and go along with me? Now there'll be a lot of sports, a lot of, there'll be Bible instruction. There will be things that you will be able to appreciate. There will be swimming. They have a nice pool up there. And you will enjoy it. Then they looked at each other and they said, well, what can we lose? They were out for a good time anyway. And so they agreed to go to the Bible camp. Well, Odin, this fine Jewish boy, he was in the University of Minnesota. And he was just during the summer vacation. Seeing the country. Well, Odin sat under the ministry that week and he paid attention. He was intelligent. He paid attention. We had a 15-year-old boy that in the camp was one of the best ping pong players I ever saw. I couldn't hold a candle to him. And neither could anybody else incidentally. And neither could Odin Engelking. And Odin was a proud young man. And I never knew that a boy could play ping pong for the Lord before, but he did. I could see Odin Engelking losing his self-esteem. And the Word of God was helping a little too. He found out from the Word of God that he wasn't all that he thought he was. And the Word of God told him some very plain things about himself. And Odin began to wilt. At the end of the camp, we had a campfire service. And all of these young people were around the campfire. And they told of their personal experiences, how they come to know the Lord. Odin Engelking got up. And I thought, what next? He was arrogant. And I thought, we're going to get something now. But nobody told him he couldn't take the floor. He says, I have something to tell you people here. He said, when I came to this camp, he said, I didn't know what was going to happen up here. I thought, we're going to catch it. He told the circumstances of how he came to the camp. And he said, it's been my ambition to see the United States of America. And I have not denied myself anything. If I wanted to see a certain site, I wanted to see it. But he says, I have had an experience this week in this camp. And he said, it's remarkable. He says, after I have fulfilled all my ambitions in seeing the places that I wanted to see, he said there was always an emptiness inside. I've achieved my goal. What next? He says, I want you people to know that this week that empty space has been filled. That sounded good to me. I went to him after the campfire and I said, now I'm going to find out what's happened here. And I said, Odin, I was so struck by what you said. Now you didn't use the nomenclature that we use, you didn't use the language that we use. And I said, I just wanted to know what took place. And I said, Odin, can you say that you are saved because you know that Christ died for your sins on the cross. And that he did everything that was necessary to take you to heaven. Do you know that, Odin? He says, I believe I'm saved. And then he thought, that isn't exactly the way I want to put it. He says, I know I'm saved. Well, I began to become a believer in him as well as he was in the Lord. And I said, you're sure that you're going to heaven now? I believe I'm going to heaven. No, he says, I know I'm going to heaven. I said, how do you know that? He said, God tells me so in his word. So if I place my faith in his son, my sin will be forgiven and I'll be in heaven. I said, Odin, that's nice. He wrote home and told his mother, mom, I found God. Not very good theology. God had found him. The good shepherd had gone out after the one sheep that was lost leaving the nighting and night in the wilderness. And the good shepherd had found the sheep that was lost. But that was the old way that Odin put it. And I'm not going to quarrel with him. Mom, I found God. The remarkable thing was the three weeks later when he was going from his aunt's house in Albuquerque to the plane to get the plane home, he was involved in an automobile accident and he was killed. Three weeks in Christ. Nobody knows how important that chance was. But the empty place had been filled. He'd been to the Lord. I had another remarkable experience with a fellow forecaster in the U.S. Weather Bureau. In Salt Lake City, we were together there in the forecast office a number of years ago. I hate to tell you how many. But he was a very strong Mormon boy. He was a very fine person. And he had been in the temple which was as high as a Mormon can go. I don't know whether you know anything about the Mormon faith or not. But that temple on Temple Square in Salt Lake City is off-limits to everybody. But the very best of Mormon people. And he had ambition as being raised in the Mormon family to be in that temple. And he worked. And he earned the respect and the confidence of the Mormon people until he was indeed permitted to go into the temple. Which is something for a Mormon. And I said, Charlie, I said, how did that, did that meet a need within you? Well, he said, I think it did. At the time, I said, are you still, do you still have that enthusiasm? And he said, no, I don't. I said, Charlie, why not? Well, I achieved my goal. And he'd cooled off ever since that time. Now, I think I can identify with him, though I'm not a Mormon. But I think I can identify him with my own experience. It does not satisfy me. Religion does not satisfy the Lord. The Lord Jesus, telling these earnest Jewish people who had met all the requirements of Moses, said that on this last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. It didn't satisfy. Charlie welcomed them. Religion did not satisfy. Now, I could go on multiplying stories, and I don't think I will, about people who have had, oh, there's one more I will tell. Suffer one more, please. We were hiking in the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado one time, and we saw, my wife and I, I think you were among our visitation, we saw a cabover truck, a cab trailer, you know, that you'd sleep in. I'm not calling it the right name, but you know what I'm talking about. These people were from all places. Hope County. I knew the 77th. They were from Hope County. We had been hiking up along South St. Drain Creek in that lovely, lovely setting. It was Wild Basin Inn. We came back, and those people were sitting in the same place, I think, when we began our trip. Up the canyon. They had traveled out from Des Moines. And I have no doubt that they were the envy of their friends as they pulled out of the driveway in Des Moines, headed for Colorado. You lucky people. Headed for beautiful Colorado. It is beautiful. I lived there for 30 years. You're going to start adding up numbers here in a minute. There they sat. They were there. I suppose they had walked up along the trail and come back. Well, what were they going to do now? Skip? There they were. Hours later, sitting in the same little camp stool. They weren't even coming. Sitting outside of their trailer. I suppose watching other campers. The envy of the people back in Iowa. Here they are out there. Nothing to do. They've achieved their goal. There they are. How many people have had the same experience on their vacations? They have worked all year and thought, oh, I'm going to have a wonderful vacation. And they go out and they keep the ants and everything else. And they say, what did I work all year for in the first place? It didn't turn out quite like they thought it was going to turn out. You know, they say pleasure is like all gold. It's divided in three parts. Anticipation. Realization. And rumination. All pleasure is really, I'm serious about this. All pleasure is divided into three parts. Anticipation. Realization. Rumination. The greatest part of it is anticipation. The realization falls short. You know what vacations is. Or don't you? To make you glad to get home and work for 50 more weeks so you can go on vacation again. There's one source of satisfaction for human work. Christ. He's the only satisfaction of the human heart. If any man thirsts, let him come on to me and drink. He's that never failing source of satisfaction. The creator, the architect and creator of the universe. The painter of the sunset. The architect of the flower. The one who died on Calvary for you and for me. He is the one that brings satisfaction to the heart. It's a matter of coming into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. He says, if any man thirsts, let him come on to me and drink. No middlemen here. No middlemen. I've dealt with children. I drew and taught for children for so many years. And I've dealt, I suppose, with hundreds of them. I never used to keep track. But in seeking to lead a child to the Lord, there comes a time when the evangelist has got to step out of the picture. You can lead a child along just as far as you want to lead him. And those last few steps to the Lord, he makes all by himself. I'd like to be able to take their hands and I'd like to be able to lead them over to the Lord and take the Lord's hand and put them together, but I can't do that. Each of us has that meeting alone, by ourselves. Children are very, very intelligent. Don't ever underrate the child. I learned that once by experience. I talked with a lad that I would say about 10 years of age, and he was a raw heathen. I say that. That's not very charitable. What I should say is he didn't know the first principles about Christianity. Never heard anything about it. Perhaps that's a little rough calling him a raw heathen, because he was a rather nice boy. He was intelligent, I'll tell you that. And so I talked with him. He said, let's talk. I got a signal and I said, all right, let's talk. So he says, let's go over here and sit on the log and talk. I want to talk. It's hard to be touched. So we talked. We talked about the Lord and about how that we were sinners. That God loved us, it's the same, and he wanted us in his heaven. But there was the problem of our sins. So he sent his son down into the world to assume the responsibility of our sins, and as our substitute died on the cross for us, so that our sins debt could be paid. So that we could be forgiven, that God wouldn't compromise his character, his holiness, in forgiving us our sins. After all, sin's debt was paid by my Redeemer, the one who died for me. Oh, I told him everything. Well, I said, now this boy has got quite a load. I'm going to let him bear it for a while. So we broke up. I had to let it soak in. Well, the next day he come along, he says, let's talk. I says, all right, let's talk. So we got over and I started going over some of the same ground again. I wasn't sure what he's taking. He says, oh, you wore that out yesterday. I said, this boy's a little farther along than I thought he was. He had seen it. I hope to see him in heaven. I don't know just exactly what was accomplished. But believe me, when the Lord Jesus says, if any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He meant that. Now he's available to each and every one who can talk to him. And believe me, the line will be open. The line will be open. But we've got to meet him for ourselves. We've got to meet him alone. But he says, come to me. I want to come to you. And drink. Satisfy your soul's thirst. And then he said something very remarkable. He says, he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now, what is taught by this figure? Out of his belly, after he's come to me and drank, then he will be a fountainhead himself. Out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. What answers to that? How shall we explain it? This is the way I explain it. That after we get saved, after we come to know the Lord Jesus, and how wonderful it is to know that our sins are forgiven thanks to his dying love, and thanks to my faith and my reliance on that fact, and you don't rely on the Lord and get let down. Now, when I rely on that fact, and that brings peace to my soul, I can't speak to myself. I've got to tell others. And that refreshing, refreshing living water, it's my privilege to be the fountainhead then, and tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of his belly. If the person who comes to him and drinks, he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Out of his innermost beings. I don't know how the translations of today translate this. This is the authorised. I understand what it means, though the language isn't quite as acceptable. Perhaps it was in 1611 when the authorised version was translated. But it means out of his innermost being there is refreshment for others. What is the refreshment? Christ. Telling others about the Lord Jesus. That's the refreshment. And we become a fountainhead. We become a source of refreshment to others as we tell them about the Lord Jesus Christ. This is faith of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Now the Holy Spirit is the source of this refreshment. We come to the Lord first of all. We believe on him. And then according to the rest of the chapters in John's Gospel, the Lord sends his spirit into our beings and into our hearts. I've got the spirit of God inside of me. Well, Paul says that. It's the teaching of the scripture. Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit? God and the word of God. The moment that I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of God helps me believe it, he enters into my life. And he takes up his good within me. And he is a source of refreshment that never, never ends. This is all so wonderful when you really start to think of it, what it all means. But I do appreciate these scriptures as I read them over and over and over and over. Down through the years, how can you be more dramatic? How can you be more explicit? How can you be more plain than the Lord himself? If any man serves, let him come unto me and dream. Now we have that privilege. And we can come and we can talk to him. We need to get together with the Lord Jesus and tell him how we feel. And I challenge everybody here tonight, tell the Lord how you feel about the fact that he died for you on the cross. I'm sure he'd like to listen to a conversation like that. It would cheer his great heart with love to know that one appreciated the fact that he died for them and that he was putting his trust in that wonderful, wonderful work of the cross. Father Carl, would you please close with a word of prayer, please?