John 7:37—“If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink”

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 (John 7:37 KJV).

(I)

Rev. Herman Hoeksema

[Source: The Gospel, Or, The Most Recent Attack Against the Truth of Sovereign Grace, p. 131]

What you have here is [not an offer, but] a calling of the thirsty, not of all men. Even the form of the text already presupposes that not all men are thirsty: if any man thirst.

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(II)

William Perkins (1558-1602)

[Source: Norman Pettit, The Heart Prepared: Grace and Conversion in Puritan Spiritual Life (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1966), pp. 62, 63. Emphasis added.]

[The] will [or desire] to become regenerate … is the effect and testimony of regeneration begun … Mark then … though as yet thou want [i.e. lack] firm and lively grace, yet art thou not altogether void of grace, if thou canst unfeignedly desire it. Thy desire is the seed, conception or bud of that which thou wantest. “If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink.”

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(II)

More to come! (DV)