Rivers of Living Water -- 5/31/09

Sunday, May 31, 2009

RIVERS OF LIVING WATER

What is God’s purpose for your life? You could answer that question in several different ways and be very biblical. Maybe we can suggest a few. So what is God’s purpose for your life?
… to conform you to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29)
… to bring glory to God (Jn. 12:28)
… that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Pet. 2:9)

That gives us a pretty good picture. It is easy to see that all of these purposes fit together. When we are conformed to the image of Christ, that brings glory to God. And when we proclaim His praises to a lost work, that too brings glory to God. When we are glorifying God, we will long to be like Jesus and to share the good news with others. A part of being conformed to His image is being a light to those around us.

With that in mind, let’s come to the seventh chapter of John. The setting of this chapter is the feast of tabernacles at the temple in Jerusalem. The Feast of Tabernacles was one of three that all Jewish men were required to attend. So what was the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles? It was a time of thanksgiving for the just-completed harvest. It was also a commemoration of how God had taken care of His people during the wandering in the wilderness. It was called the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Booths, because the people of Israel had lived in simple booths while they were traveling through the desert during those 40 years. During the Feast of Tabernacles the people constructed temporary huts from branches and lived in them during the seven days of the feast. This is exactly what the Lord had told them to do.

The Feast of Tabernacles was the best attended of all the feasts. There were more foreigners at this feast, as many Jewish people came from foreign nations to celebrate this special time. More sacrifices were offered at this feast than at any other. It could be argued that this was the greatest of all the feasts. It was the last of the three feasts and marked the climax of the Jewish year.

So we see that this was a great time of celebration and rejoicing, moreso than any of the other feasts. The height of the celebration was when the priest led the people in a great procession from the altar in the temple down to the pool of Siloam. He carried a golden pitcher. When they came to the pool, he would fill that golden pitcher with water. Then the entire procession would begin to make its way back to the altar of the temple. When they reached the altar, the priest was joined by another priest, who held the wine, which was the drink offering for the morning service. Then one priest poured out the wine into a funnel that led to the base of the altar, and the other priest poured the water from the golden pitcher into another funnel, which also led to the base of the altar.

Immediately after the pouring of the water, the great "Hallel" was recited. "Hallel" is the Hebrew word for "praise." It consisted of Psalms 113-118. They sang and chanted these Psalms, accompanied by a flute or other instrument. The Levites would read a portion, and then all the people would respond. As they lifted their praise to the Lord, they shook branches called "lulabs," as if to emphasize what they were saying. When they had recited the last verse of Psalm 118, the music suddenly stopped and there was silence.

Jewish historians tell us that this was a very unusual moment of worship. The whole crowd was caught up in the spirit of worship and praise and wonder. It was the high point of the Jewish year. It was the climax. There was nothing greater in all of Jewish life. It was not only the high point of that days’ worship and the Feast of Tabernacles, but also the climax of the entire Jewish religious year. It seems pretty clear that it was at this point that Jesus spoke the words here in John 7:37-38. You could have heard a pin drop, and Jesus cried out with a loud voice. Let’s read John 7:37-39…
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. 38. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Now here is the great promise: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Jesus and drink from Him. The one who believes in Jesus, just as the scripture says, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. That’s pretty straightforward, but let’s look a little bit deeper.

How important is it that these rivers of living water flow out of us? It is absolutely vital, if we are going to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. There is nothing wrong with getting some evangelism training, having at least a basic strategy of how you might present the gospel of Christ to people. However, our words will have little effect if they are not accompanied by this living water. This living water will flow as we are conformed more and more closely to the image of Christ. And when these rivers of living water flow out of us, God is glorified. This principle is vitally connected to God’s purpose for the life of the believer.

Listen to the words of Ps. 78:16, "He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers." What is the context of those words? Psalm 78 is one of those Psalms that goes through the history of Israel. You will remember that there were times when the people grumbled, and sometimes it was because they didn’t have any water to drink. It was a crisis – some two million people out in the middle of the desert with no water to drink. If they don’t get water, they will all die. The people were well aware of the situation, so they began to murmur against Moses. "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? So you can kill us with thirst, along with our children and cattle?" Moses cried out to the Lord, "What am I going to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me?" Now listen to what the Lord said to Moses in Ex. 17:5-6…
And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

When Moses hit the rock with the rod, water flowed out. Sometimes artists picture this event as a little trickle of water coming out of a rock. Listen to me. How much water does it take to quench the thirst of two million plus thirsty people and all their animals. It was a mighty river of water that flowed out of the rock that day. And because that might river flowed, there was life. Where there was certain death, now suddenly there was abundant life.

That is a beautiful picture of what we see here in John 7:37-38. Jesus was surrounded by death, though their religious forms were abundant. Is it any different today? Oh yes, we have our religious forms. How many church buildings are there in the Huntsville area? They’re everywhere. Surveys tell us how many Christians there are in this nation. Don’t pay any attention to them. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leads to life, and few there be that find it (Matt. 7:14). We are still a religious society in many ways, but there is little of true spiritual life. In the midst of all the death around us Jesus says, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes on me will have rivers of living water flowing out of him."
Jesus doesn’t promise trickles of living water, but rivers of living water. I think of those rushing streams up in the Rocky Mountains, as opposed to the muddy water of the Mississippi. Those rivers of water are crystal clear and they are just looking for some place to flow. Those waters bring life to whatever they touch. So it is with this living water of which Jesus speaks. These rivers leave a trail of spiritual life. Isn’t that what we see with Jesus? Though many rejected Him, He did indeed leave a trail of life wherever He went. Just think back through the gospel of John. "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world" (John 1:29). In chapter 2 He turned the water into wine. In chapter 3 He spoke the words of life to Nicodemus, assuring him that unless he was born again, he would not see the kingdom of heaven. In chapter 4 those rivers of living water flowed to the Samaritan woman and brought life where there was death. We could go on and on.

So what exactly are these rivers of living water that Jesus talks about? They are simply the life of Jesus Himself. He could have said just as easily, "He who believes on me will have my life flowing out of Him." But the truth is that the life of Jesus is like a mighty river leaving a trail of spiritual life in its wake. The world around us doesn’t need more religion or formulas or empty promises; it needs the very life of Jesus. Jesus promises us that we can have that life flowing out from us as rivers of living water.

I. Do We Believe The Rivers Can Flow?

Do you believe it? I’m not looking for some quick answer. I’m asking you to search your heart and give the Lord an answer. Do you believe that rivers of living water can flow out of your innermost being? Let me be clear on one thing. If you don’t have the life of Jesus within you, these rivers of living water can never flow out of you. It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, how much talent you possess, how compassionate you are. If you don’t have His life, then you have no living water to give. These rivers of living water are not something we can produce, but rather the believer can serve as a channel through which these living waters can flow. Do you believe it?

Do you desire it? Do you long for these living waters to flow out of you? Do you care? Does it really matter? If you were in a parched desert and you knew that water would bring life to that desert, what would you do if you had access to millions of gallons of water? You would pour those waters out on that parched desert. What about the walking death that we see around us every day? Do you long to see the life of Christ touch those dead corpses? Do you long for that life to flow through you to others.

I long for it and I believe it, because it is a promise from the Son of God, who never once lied to anyone. I trust you long for those rivers of living water and believe that they can flow out of you. If we do, then how is it possible? How can Jesus pour those rivers of living water through us? What is the requirement? How did Jesus say it would happen? Hint: there is a condition. There is something we must do. What is it? We must respond to our thirst by coming to Jesus and drinking from Him. If we don’t come and drink from Him, the rivers of water cannot flow out of us.

Let me give you a little more literal translation of this verse. "If anyone is thirsty, let him keep on coming to me and keep on drinking from me. He who keeps on believing on me, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." This is not a one-time thing. Jesus invites the thirsty person to keep on coming and keep on drinking from Him. This is the way to have these rivers of living water flowing out of you.

If you have trouble getting a handle on that, come to the first part of verse 38. Along with the coming and drinking, Jesus speaks of believing on Him. Literally, "He who keeps on believing on me, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water." So which is it? Are we to drink from Him or believe on Him? That’s right; we are. So what is the difference between drinking from Jesus and believing on Jesus? There is no difference. They are one in the same.

II. What Does It Mean to Believe in Jesus?

Now that may give you a little trouble. You might say, "Well, I certainly believe in Jesus, but I can’t say that I am drinking from Him." I think it’s time for us to take a little journey and explore this idea of belief. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? The answer to that question is not as apparent as you might think. The gospel of John is sometimes referred to as the Gospel of belief, and it is no wonder, because the word translated "believe" is used over 100 times in John. That is amazing. It is used only 39 times in the other three gospels combined. Even in John’s gospel, we have to do some searching to arrive at the meaning of "believe." We would generally think that if the Bible says someone believes in Jesus, then that person is saved, is right with God. Not necessarily so. Let’s take one example. Read John 2:23-25, "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. 24. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, 25. And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man." They believed in Jesus’ name, but Jesus did not commit Himself to them because He knew what was in man. The implication is that Jesus knew they were not to the point of genuine faith. Rather, they believed because they saw the miracles that He did.

Now come on over to chapter 6. This chapter begins with the record of the feeding of the 5,000. You know that story. With two fish and five loaves Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children. The people were so impressed with Jesus’ miracle that they tried to take him by force and make Him their king (John 6:14-15). By the way, what did Jesus do when that happened? He retreated into the mountains to get alone with His Father. When you receive the applause of men, that is the first thing you need to do. Get alone with the Father. Otherwise, we are in danger of falling victim to pride. The next day they sought diligently until they found Jesus. Let’s read it in John 6:24-26…
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? 26. Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

The word "believe" isn’t used here, but it s the same idea. This is a continuation of the theme of 2:23-25, when they "believed on Jesus" because of the miracles which He did. But now Jesus says their motives are even less noble than before. Now they aren’t seeking Him because of His miracle-working power, but because they want to get another handout. They want to get their bellies full again. That’s when Jesus speaks those words that are so precious to us: "Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life…" (6:27).

Him in order that they might have eternal life. As a matter of fact, in verses 29-47 the word "believe" occurs six times. Verse 35, "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger/ and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Verse 47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Wow! The way to eternal life is to believe on Jesus. We find the same thing in John 3:16 and many other places in John’s gospel. But here is the big question: What does it mean to believe on Jesus?

That brings us to verses 48-58. In the preceding 20 verses the theme has been eternal life, and that eternal life comes through believing in Jesus. Now I am going to read verses 48-58. As I read, you try to determine what the theme is. You might also listen for the word that occurs most often in this section. So let’s read John 6:48-58…
I am that bread of life. 49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

Notice that the theme in this section is the same as in the previous section. Jesus is still talking about eternal life. In this same section the words life, live, and living are found eleven times. In the previous section, Jesus has emphasized that a person must believe in order to have eternal life. What about this section? How many times do you find the word "believe" in this section? None at all. But now there is another word that is dominant. As a matter of fact, it is found ten times. What is it? That’s right; it is the word "eat." Jesus is trying to make a point. He is still talking about eternal life, but now he has switched from believing to eating (and drinking). Now the way to life is by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood. Verse 53, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Do you see it? The bridge between the two sections is verse 47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Then in verses 48-58 Jesus explains what it means to believe in Jesus. To believe in Jesus is to eat His flesh and drink His blood.

There is a sense in which there has been little change between that day and today. Even then there were plenty of people who could say, "I believe in Jesus." The people of chapter 2 who saw the miracles in Jerusalem said they believed in Jesus. The people who were fed and sought after Jesus would have claimed to believe. So it is today. Thousands upon thousands say they believe in Jesus. At the last day many will call Him "Lord," reminding Jesus that they have done mighty things in His name. And what will Jesus say? "I never knew you; depart from me, you who work iniquity" (Matt. 7:23).

That is why it is important to define what it means to believe in Jesus. Jesus did it, and we must continue to do it. To believe in Jesus is no intellectual exercise, though there are prominent Christian teachers who tell us that you can believe in Jesus without it making any real change in your life. That isn’t the Jesus of the Bible. When a person eats His flesh and drinks His blood, He cannot be the same.

But wait a minute. What does it mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood? That is strange terminology. No wonder the Jewish leaders took offense and marveled at such a statement. How can that be? I must confess that I don’t totally understand it. Obviously, Jesus didn’t mean it literally. All I know is that when you take something into your body, it is not a light thing. We become so used to certain substances that we take them in without a thought. But suppose you find yourself in Mexico City tomorrow. I suspect you will be rather careful about what goes into your mouth.

Many years ago we were going through this passage. We didn’t a little object lesson. I volunteered a lady from our congregation to come up to the front. She was an English lady. I had with me a dead grasshopper. I asked her if I could put the grasshopper in her hand. With a certain reluctance, she agreed. Then I asked her if I could touch it to her face. More reluctance, but she let me do it. Then I asked her if she would eat the dead grasshopper. Her response was classic: "Only if the Lord wanted me to." You see, there was a tremendous difference between eating the grasshopper and even rubbing it against her face.

Surely Jesus is saying that it is not a light thing to believe in Him. You can’t truly believe in Him in order to get something from Him. To believe in Him is to embrace Him fully, as when you allow something to come inside your body. As it is a radical thing to eat flesh and drink blood, so it is radical thing to trust Jesus. No wonder the scripture uses terms like "in Christ" and "Christ in you." "Unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of God." To believe on Jesus Christ is a radical thing that will not leave you the same.

"Okay. I believed in Jesus." "But you don’t seem to have much regard for Him." "Oh, perhaps not, but there was a time when Christ came into my life. That’s what counts." We could word it in a thousand ways, but it all comes out at the same place. We have a tendency to put the focus on the fact that we believed in the past tense rather than we believe in the present tense.
I want to show you something in this passage, which you may not have realized. If you already know this, it will be good review. In verses 49-51 Jesus speaks about eating the bread which came down from heaven. Then the question in 52, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" We have looked at Jesus’ response in verse 53, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." We could parallel verse 53 with John 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." It is exactly the same message, just viewed from a different perspective. The person who eats Jesus’ flesh and drinks His blood is the person who has received new life in Christ. It is the person who has experienced this radical new birth.
What I want you to see is that there is a change in verse 54. That change is marked by two things. First of all, the word translated "eat" is changed completely. Most English translations do not note the difference at all, but it is brought out in the Amplified and the English Standard Version. Both of them translate this second word as "feed on." So while the word is simply "eat" up through verse 53, it changes to "feeds on" in verse 54. Throughout the rest of the passage, it is "feeds on" except the first occurrence in verse 58, where Jesus refers back to their fathers eating manna in the wilderness.

The second difference is in the tense of the verbs "feed on" and "drink." Down through verse 53 the tense of these verbs is always aorist. That means that the emphasis is upon a point in time. Beginning in verse 54, the tense changes in both of these verbs from aorist to present (except the first occurrence of "eat" in 58). Now the emphasis is on continuing action. Let me read verses 53-58 again with this literal emphasis…
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54. Whoso keeps on feeding on my flesh, and keeps on drinking my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56. He that keeps on feeding on my flesh, and keeps on drinking my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that keeps on feeding on me, even he shall live by me. 58. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that keeps on feeding on this bread shall live for ever.

Do you see the significance of this change. There is a starting point. There is a point in time when a person initially eats Jesus’ flesh and drinks His blood. That corresponds to the point in time when he is born again. Make no mistake about it, people who are born dead must be birthed into the kingdom of God. We don’t come into the kingdom by osmosis over a long period of time; we must be born again. We may not know exactly when that happens, but there is a point at which it occurs. But that is only the beginning. How do you know if that new birth is real? Maybe a person is just kidding himself about becoming a child of God. "Whoever keeps on feeding on my flesh and keeps on drinking my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day… He that keeps on feeding on my flesh and keeps on drinking my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so he that keeps on feeding on me, even he shall live by me… He who keeps on feeding on this bread shall live forever."
Praise God that Jesus is not a one-time experience in the distant past. Remember the verse that introduced this passage in verse 47, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." Literally, "He who keeps on believing on me has everlasting life." Belief in Christ has a starting point, but it has no ending point. And what about eternal life? What is eternal life? "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (Jn. 17:3). Eternal life is not just life forever, but it has a quality, and that quality is knowing God the Father and God the Son personally. Eternal life has a beginning, but it has no end. From its beginning throughout eternity, it is a life of feasting on Jesus, of continually feeding on Him and drinking from Him.

That brings us back to John 7:37-38, "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. 38. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." Let him keep on coming to me and keep on believing on me. He who keeps on believing on me will have rivers of living water flowing from his innermost being. Do you see the connection? Serving as a channel for these living waters follows naturally upon a continual feasting on Jesus.

III. What Is the Ministry of the Spirit?

Let’s look at it from one more angle. We read verse 39 briefly, but now let’s give our attention to it. John 7:39, "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)" The King James sets this verse off with parentheses, emphasizing the fact that John is now giving the explanation of Jesus’ words in verses 37-38. When Jesus talked about these rivers of living water flowing as a result of drinking from Jesus, He was talking about the ministry of the Spirit. Of course, we know that at this time the Spirit had not yet come. Later, those who believe on Jesus would receive the Spirit, but the Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Go over to John 14. Months after this explanation in chapter 7, the coming of the Spirit is still future. Let’s read it in John 14:16-18…
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

So when would the Spirit come? When Jesus was glorified? And when was that? That word "glorify" is used 21 times in the Gospel of John. It is a prominent theme. Its first occurrence is right here in John 7:39, but it is certainly not the last. According to my study, 15 of those 21 occurrences speak of the death of Jesus. During the last week of His life of earth, Jesus begins to emphasize this theme. John 12:23, "The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified." What does He mean by "the Son of man shall be glorified"? Read the next verse (24), "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Jesus is that kernel of wheat that must die. All the wonderful teaching and miracles in the world will not bring forth life, but when Jesus dies, life will spring forth. Now we’ll skip a few references and come to Jesus’ prayer in chapter 17. Let’s read verse 1, "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:" Then He speaks of giving eternal life to as many as the Father has given them. But how is He going to give this eternal life, which consists of knowing the Father and the Son? Verses 4-5, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." What was the work the Father had given Him to do? Above all else, it was His death on the cross. Jesus said He had come to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). How would He do that? Through His death. But don’t miss verse 5. Now we see a glorification that goes beyond His death. He longs to share again that glory He has with the Father before the world was. And God the Father would answer His prayer by raising Him up from the grave and setting Him at His own right hand. When Jesus died and rose, both the Father and the Son were glorified.

So come back to John 7:39. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified. So after Jesus was glorified, did the Spirit come? Indeed, He did. Come to the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The disciples of Jesus were proclaiming the wonderful works of God in various languages that could be understood by those people who had come from many nations to attend this feast in Jerusalem. After proclaiming the death of Jesus, Peter then gives this explanation in Acts 2:32-33, "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear." The Holy Spirit came, and when He did, rivers of living water flowed out of these people who had put their trust in Jesus. The flow of living waters was so abundant that about 3,000 people found real life that very day.

We could talk a lot about the ministry of the Spirit, but there is nothing more important than what we find right here. It is the ministry of the Spirit that produces these rivers of living waters. But wait, I thought it was coming to Jesus and drinking from Him. That’s right. For what does the Spirit do? Jesus explains the ministry of the Spirit in John 14-16, but the key is to be found in those simple words in of Jesus in John 16:14, "He shall glorify me." The Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus. As He sends forth these rivers of living water, Jesus is glorified. And how do we keep on coming to Jesus and drinking from Him? We can’t see Him. We can’t touch Him. But we have the Spirit. And what Spirit is it that we have? The Spirit of Christ. Rom. 8:9, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

What direct command are we given concerning the Spirit? "Be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). But what do we find in the companion epistle? If you are not familiar with that language, Colossians is often called the companion epistle to Ephesians, because their content is so similar. Just compare them for a moment. Let’s go backward. In Eph. 6:5 Paul speaks to servants. We find the same thing in Col. 3:22. In Eph. 6:1 Paul speaks to children. We have the same thing in Col. 3:20. In Eph. 5:25 it is the instructions to the husbands. The same thing is found in Col. 3:19. You will notice that the instructions in Colossians are more brief, but the order is exactly the same. Instructions to wives is found in Eph. 5:22, and you find the same thing in Col. 3:18. Now just go up a few verses to the end of Eph. 5:19, and we read, "Speaking to yourselves [literally, "one another"] in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." Now go up a couple of verses in Col. 3 and read the end of verse 16, "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Do you see this perfect parallel. So now what do we find immediately before those words in Eph. 5:18? "Be filled with the Spirit." And we do we find in the exact same place in Col. 3:16? Is it, "Be filled with the Spirit?" No, rather it is, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." The words are different, but the message is the same. To let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly is to be filled with the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit is to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly. You can’t have one without the other.

Conclusion

The path to being channels of rivers of living water is a spiritual pursuit. This is not something we can do in our own strength. We must yield to the Spirit. We must feast on Jesus. Scratch the "must." This isn’t a "have to," as if it were drudgery. I have a wife that is fond of chocolate. Actually, she loves chocolate. I would never talk to her about having to eat chocolate. Eating chocolate is an absolute delight for her. How much more delight is there in feasting on Jesus, our Savior and Lord and Redeemer? What could be better than being led by the Spirit of that Christ who lived and died in such a way that He brought glory to the God who created this universe?

You could just as well title this sermon "Feasting on Jesus." Rivers of living water and feasting on Jesus go hand in hand. If you see these rivers of living water, rest assured that that person from whom they are flowing is feeding on Jesus.