“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
John 7:37-39 NIV
Another beautiful symbol of the Holy Spirit in Scripture… a river. No one and nothing on earth can survive without water. Just as “bread” is a symbol of that which sustains life…”bread is the staff of life”, so water completes the picture of what is utterly necessary for every living thing.
The greatest tragedy of Adam’s disobedience was the loss of the life-giving Spirit. He could no longer indwell a heart polluted with sin. When the Holy Spirit left Adam, He left behind an empty shell. Adam was physically alive but spiritually dead, and he passed on this condition to the whole human race.
What did God’s people think when John the Baptiser made this announcement? Did they even recognise the significance and implication of this promise?
“Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’”
John 1:32-33 NIV
The entire history of Israel was one of failure…no Spirit, no power to obey. Only rebellion! Failure brought judgment, punishment, exile, suffering, and eventually, occupation by the hated Romans. They were slaves of sin and had no hope of deliverance outside of God’s intervention…
…Then came John…with a promise! The Holy Spirit is coming back…not just on special people for special tasks, like on Samson, or on Gideon! On everyone! Not just a trickle but a river! A perennial flow of the life-giving Spirit…now, through Jesus, if we believe in Him.
At the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles, the high priest performed a ritual that ironically pictured a system that could never slake anyone’s thirst for real life. He poured water onto the dry ground, to be swallowed up in the dust, producing nothing…By contrast, Jesus offered water that would satisfy and keep flowing from within forever.
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
The people of Israel understood the imagery. God had often spoken of Himself as a “fountain of living water.” Israel was cursed because they had chosen to drink water from a polluted fountain.
“Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.”
Jeremiah 17:13 NIV
God’s people today have been robbed by a terrible lie that teaches that we need a special and separate “baptism” in the Holy Spirit to enjoy the benefits of the Spirit’s presence in us. This teaching contradicts Paul’s words…
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 NIV
What can be clearer than this? “All”, meaning “all”, used three times, emphasises that everyone who believes enjoys the fulness of the Holy Spirit, not only those who have a “special anointing” or a separate “baptism”. The Holy Spirit is not divided into a little bit and later, ”fulness” after a separate “baptism”.
Joel’s prophecy, quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost, to explain the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is an all-inclusive promise.
“These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! “No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:” ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”
Acts 2:15-18 NIV
Fellow believers, don’t be carried away by any “second blessing” deception. Jesus promised the fullness of the Holy Spirit to all who believe in Him. His presence and His power is for all who obey Him. We need only drink and keep drinking from His fountain of truth.
“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Ephesians 5:18-20 NIV
This fountain keeps flowing as we keep praising Him and living for Him.
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.””
Isaiah 12:3-6 NIV
To be continued…