Rivers of Living Water
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Intro
Intro
Text - John 7.37-39
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
39 But this He said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Title - The Overflowing of Life
Background
Background
John 7 records a time when Jesus went to Jerusalem during the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles.
John Jesus, the Source of Living Water, Extends an Invitation to All Who Thirst (7:37–39)
On each day of the feast there was a procession of priests to the pool of Siloam to draw water (m. Sukka 4:9). The priests returned to the temple, where the water was taken in procession once around the altar with the choir chanting
The feast of tabernacles was a joyous feast, and made even more so with the addition of this ritual.
It was on the last day of this feast when Jesus stood and cried out, inviting the people to come Him by faith.
He was showing the Jews that something better that this ritual is coming very soon
He was referring to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believers.
The Main Idea
The Main Idea
The rivers of living water is the Holy Spirit.
The Christian life was intended to be a “spring” for the Holy Spirit to flow into the world
4 There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
2 This is what the Lord says, He who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: ‘Do not fear, Jacob My servant, And Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 ‘For I will pour water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.’
The Holy Spirit is the Living Water
The Holy Spirit is the Living Water
a “living water” is a source of water that does not dry up, it keeps on flowing.
a fountain or spring (bukal)
a river that flows and does not stagnate, it is full of life
God compared Himself to a fountain, which Israel left in exchange for a broken cistern - Jeremiah 2.11-13
11 “Has a nation changed gods, When they were not gods? But My people have exchanged their glory For that which is of no benefit.
12 “Be appalled at this, you heavens, And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.
13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned Me, The fountain of living waters, To carve out for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That do not hold water.
a cistern is an artificial reservoir of water that is often dug in a rock; it usually depends on rain to fill it water
idols are like cisterns - the worshiper must do something to make it appear alive, and make it “happy”
a fountain or spring is water that comes from deep inside the rock
God is like living water - He is the believers source of life and joy of living
God provided water to Israel in the wilderness from the rock - Deuteronomy 8.15
15 He who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions, and its thirsty ground where there was no water; He who brought water for you out of the rock of flint.
Moses was instructed to strike the rock - Exodus 17.6
6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
that rock was Christ - 1 Cor 10.4
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
CHRIST WAS STRUCK ON THE ROCK SO THAT LIFE MAY FLOW OUT FROM HIM AND THOSE WHO THIRST MAY PARTAKE!
Jesus is the Dispenser of the Holy Spirit - John 1.33
33 And I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Flow indicates movement. Where there is life, there is movement.
The Holy Spirit was given to “fill in” our personal needs
The Holy Spirit was given to “fill in” our personal needs
10 Jesus replied to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do You get this living water?
12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”
The Holy Spirit is given to “fill in” the soul’s “thirst”
“thirst” indicates unsustained satisfaction, unsustained life.
we keep drinking because the life is never fully satisfied.
we keep looking for “other sources” because the life is never contented.
ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS THE CAPACITY TO SATISFY THE SOUL OF MAN!
never thirst again - means never needing to “drink” again
THIS IS THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
baptism with the Holy Spirit is a one-time experience
Jesus dispenses the Holy Spirit to FILL OUR LIVES with His Life!
The Holy Spirit abides forever!
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever;
The Holy Spirit is given to “flow out” of one’s life (into other lives)
The Holy Spirit is given to “flow out” of one’s life (into other lives)
38 The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
The Holy Spirit is also given to “flow from” one’s life into other lives.
note - the pouring out of the water from the pool of Siloam brought joy to the Jews who gathered to witness the activity
Jesus gives them a better option - the Holy Spirit
The “overflowing” of the Holy Spirit creates “rivers” of living waters
rivers (plural) - indicates
greatness of the work, and
manifestation of One Spirit into different gifts, ministries, effects/activities - 1 Cor 12.4-6
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord.
6 There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
THIS IS THE FILLING OF/WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT
when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, it spills over our lives
the experience moves us to minister to others!
MINISTRY IS THE RESULT OF SPIRIT FILLED LIVES!
examples
John the Baptist
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb.
16 And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.
17 And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of fathers back to THEIR children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Jesus - Luke 4.1
1 Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness
14 And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding region.
15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
the apostles and the early church - Acts 2.4-7
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
the rivers flowed from the house where the disciples were praying - Acts 4.31
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Two (2) marks of a ministry that is an overflowing of the Holy Spirit -
the Word -
it is the Seed of life
it is the vessel through the Spirit of God flows from one life to another
joy in the Spirit
52 And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
the disciples were joyfull in the midst of persecution
but joy is not alone - it comes with other things from the Spirit of God
9 “fruit” of the Spirit - Galatians 5.22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
3 characteristics of the kingdom - Romans 14.17
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
joy, peace and hope - Romans 15.13
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Are we a church whose men and women are full of the Holy Spirit?
Do we experience the filling of the Spirit?
But - have we been filled enough to overflowing?
GOD DOES NOT ONLY WANT TO FILL YOUR LIFE -
GOD ALSO WANTS YOUR LIFE TO OVERFLOW!
Song
Flow through me, Holy Spirit
This is your house
