The Holy Spirit (#1)
Living Water: Jesus' Promise of the Holy Spirit
Theme Verse: "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit" John 7:37
Readings: Jeremiah 2:13, Isaiah 44:3, Acts 2:17-21, John 4:10,14, Mark 1:8, John 3:5, John 14:16-19, Luke 24:49.
Memory Verse: "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit..." John 7:37
Background Living water means running, flowing water, always fresh and always renewed, not stored water as in cisterns (storage tanks) or stagnant water. Palestine is largely dependent on rainfall for water. There are two rainy seasons separated by a dry spell in the summer. Even slight variations can produce serious drought and famine. Palestine lacks natural storage sites for water so historically they used a variety of man made storage facilities like cisterns and they also dug wells that go down to the water table. Both these are covered to prevent evaporation. Water is a basic requirement for life. We cannot live long without water. Jesus compares the Holy Spirit to living water.
Old Testament The Holy Spirit, God's own Spirit, is referred to many times in the Old Testament. To begin with, God's Spirit was active at Creation. Genesis 1:2 tells us "the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." [Notice in the first three verses we have references to what we call the Trinity: God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the WORD, the Son, One God.] The Spirit is mentioned in the creation of first man: God "breathed into him the breath of life." (Genesis 2:7). Breath is another way of talking about God's Spirit, as in the hymn "Breathe on Me Breath of God". You can't store up breath for more than a few minutes. You need fresh breath.
Only a few special people in the Old Testament were anointed with the Holy Spirit but there are promises that one day the "Living Water" would be available to all God's people. But the problem was that God's people kept wanting to be like their neighbors and worship their gods and forget the "I AM" who had saved them and could give them life.
* In Jeremiah God says, "'For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns--broken cisterns that can hold no water.'" (Jeremiah 2:13) A word received: I want you to recognize the evils for what they are: my people have forsaken me -- they have turned to other gods -- other philosophies that cannot satisfy, and they have dug for themselves cisterns that cannot retain water -- water living or water that is stale and dead. Turn to me, my people: repent and receive my living water.
In Ezekiel 37, God shows him a vision of a valley filled with dry bones---a picture of the spiritual condition of God's people Israel and promises that one day He will make breath (Spirit) enter them and bring them to life and then they will know (by personal acquaintance) that the "I AM" is the One, true and only God.
* "'Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!"'" (Ezekiel 37:4) A word received: How I long for the dry bones of my church to hear my word and live it out in my Spirit. (Stop and pray this for God's church.)
* "'Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.'" (Ezekiel 36:36) A word received: You cannot rebuild my church in your own strength -- you need my Holy Spirit to empower and guide you.
Listen to Isaiah's cry to the LORD, "Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:2-3) Another promise In Isaiah is in 44:3.
* "'For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring;'" (Isaiah 44:3) A word received: Turn to me: ask me to help you recognize your thirst for what it is. Turn to me and I will pour out living water on you.
God promises Ezekiel what he will do in the future. "I will sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness's...a new heart I will give you and a new Spirit I will put in you, and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. (Ezekiel 36:25-26).. Then there is the famous passage from Joel 2 which Peter quotes on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:17-21. READ ALOUD.
Have you noticed the many ways "water" is used in Scripture, very much like "bread"
JESUS: Jesus is the one who is the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said, "I will baptize you with water but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." (Mark 1:8 ) (Note: the word 'baptize" is a word originally from the cloth dyeing industry and means to immerse in the dye and saturate the cloth.)
In John 4 Jesus promises "Living Water" to the woman at the well and reveals to her who he is. Notice that he says we have to ask for this "living water". "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."(vs.10) "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (vs.14)
At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus proclaimed to all that he will give Living Water (the Holy Spirit) to all who are spiritually thirsty and come to him. "If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.' Now he said this about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."(John 7:37) Notice that it is not just enough water to survive but streams/rivers of living water will flow to them and all around them who are also thirsty. The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) was one of Israel's three major feasts (held in the Fall after the Day of Atonement.) The people were to live in temporary shelters (booths) outdoors to remember God's care for them in the wilderness. During the seven day feast the priest read Isaiah 12:3"With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." This reminded them of the miracle of water from the rock in the desert (Numbers 20:2-13). The ceremony included a procession to the Pool of Siloam for water which was carried back in a golden pitcher and poured out in front of the people as an offering.
Early in his ministry Jesus tells a curious Nicodemus (John3:5) that unless a person is "born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." On the night before he was crucified Jesus told his disciples that he would send them "another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of Truth."(John 14:16-17) "You know him for he lives with you and will be in you."(vs.17) He "will guide you into all truth...He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you."(vs.13-14)
After Jesus had risen from the dead he appeared to them to show them he was really alive and told them, "I am going to send you what the Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:49)
Next week we will look God's love, salvation and the Holy Spirit.
We have to turn to Jesus for what only he can do. We can't live our lives in Christ on our own---we need to recognize our need for what only Jesus can give and do. We need to recognize our need for more of his Living Water. Are we like the little kid who when asked if he had brushed his teeth said, 'I did that yesterday!' Even if we have received the Holy Spirit "with power" as in Acts 2 we need to be refilled again and again. Yesterday's drink is not enough for today. We need living (fresh/flowing) water of life.
* "'Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.'" (Luke 24:49) A word received: It is my word, my gift that I want to give you. Turn to me according to my word to receive the gift of my Spirit. It doesn't matter how much water flows around you, if you don't open your mouth to receive it, it will not do you any good.
Picture a field with a stream flowing through it lined with trees whose roots grow down into the water so they are always fresh and green even in a drought and are always bearing fruit. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green. It has not worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8 )
What is your experience of Jesus' Living Water? Are you thirsty for a fresh drink?
(Testimony)
Remember the book Bishop Love asked us all to read; "Living Water" by Brother Yun. (Zondervan)
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