John 7:37-39: Rivers of Living Water

The Holy Spirit applies and makes known all the blessings we have in Christ so that we would enjoy the fullness of life and the joy of our salvation. Jesus pours out the Spirit to give us cleansing, life, and the fullness of Joy. Jesus pours out the Holy Spirit who brings the grace of God and all the blessings of Christ to bear on the heart of the Believer.

Notes

Transcript

Scripture Reading

Ephesians 1:16–20 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

Intro

How do you grow in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit?

How do you grow in your faith and experience all the blessings in Christ that Christ has purchased for you?

How do you love Christ more? Treasure Christ More? Worship Him more?

The answer is by the Holy Spirit and His gracious work in the hearts of believers.

The ministry of the Spirit usually gets hijacked today by talking about gifts and charismatic chaos.

But what I want to do is to show the beauty and the grace of the Spirit’s work to take what was accomplished and purchased by Christ and His work on the cross, and give it to us.

To make known and bring to bear all the blessings, promises, and grace we have in Christ through the grace of the gospel.

in John 7:37-39 Jesus gives a wonderful promise.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

Rivers of living water. The Great promise and blessing of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s start with point number 1…

I. Jesus is the Rock and Fountain of Living Water

John 7:37–38 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

Jesus is in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Booths, or also known as the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2).

It was one of the three Great Feasts of the Jewish people all pointed to Christ..

At the Feast of Booths God’s people would dwell in temporary shelters or booths to celebrate God’s provision in the wilderness and God tabernacling or dwelling among His people all the way to the Promise Land.

A feast that finds its true and ultimate fulfillment in Christ as God’s true provision for our wilderness of sin and death...

And how Christ is the true Tabernacle where God dwells with us and we dwell with Him forever by the finished work of Christ.

And this background of the Feast of Booths celebrating God’s wilderness provision for His people is crucial for understanding the full ramification of Christ’s words in our passage today.

Water Ceremony

The Feast itself would last for 7 days with the 8th day being set apart for a sacred assembly and celebration with sacrifices and singing of the Hallel, or Praises to God, singing Psalms 113-118 which all focus on praise to the Lord and giving glory to His Name (Leviticus 23:33-36).

And throughout the week there would be two ceremonies in particular that commemorated God’s provision in the wilderness.

The Ceremony of Lights which celebrated God leading His people in a Pillar of Fire...

Its not coincidence that after this passage Jesus will say in John 8:12 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And a Water Ceremony that celebrated God providing water in the wilderness from the Rock.

And its in this context Jesus says “If anyone thirsts, let Him come to me and drink.”

Exodus 17

In Exodus 17 the people of God are in the wilderness.

They’ve been brought out of Egypt. They’ve passed through the Red Sea.

And they are thirsty.

And so what they do is grumble against the Lord. They test Him (Ex. 17:2) which basically means they accused God of abandoning them in the desert to die of thirst (Ex 17:7).

And instead of killing them, the Lord gives grace.

He told Moses, stand before the rock and Exodus 17:6 “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And so Moses did.

Even though the people sinned, God graciously gave them water to satisfy their thirst and save them from death.

And He provided this way all throughout the wanderings in the wilderness.

Well at the Feast of Booths, every day the priests would lead a solemn assembly from the Pool of Siloam up to the Temple.

At the pool they would fill up golden jars with water and carry them all the way to the altar of the Temple and the priests would march around the altar as the choir sang the praise Psalms of the Hallel.

And at the end all the men would cry out “Give thanks to the Lord!” three times and the priests would pour out the water on the altar remembering 1. God’s provision in the wilderness and 2. God’s promise of the waters of salvation the Messiah would one day bring.

We are going to look at it more later, but Isaiah 12:3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

All this is the background for Christ’s words If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink!

What Jesus is saying would not have been lost on the people listening to Him.

I am the Rock of salvation. I am God’s provision in the wilderness.

I am the fountainhead and source of living water. God’s gift of grace and promise of salvation for everyone who believes in me!

You have celebrated all week God giving you water in the wilderness and I’m here to say I am the fulfillment who gives you true living water that satisfies your thirst once and for all!

This has already been a theme in the gospel of John.

Remember what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman who thought He was talking about everyday, physical water you had to draw from a well.

John 4:13–14 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus gives the true everlasting water of eternal life to save us from our wilderness of sin and death.

The Rock and everything Israel was celebrating during all throughout that week, all pointed to Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul even says the Rock was Christ.

That spiritually, the Rock was not just a rock, but pointed to God’s true provision in Jesus Christ.

The people grumbled and sinned against the Lord.

They deserved death not life.

God identified Himself with the Rock. He stood before it and told Moses to strike it so that life-giving water would flow.

So it is with Christ.

It was the will of the Lord to crush Him....He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, 10).

Christ is the Rock of our salvation and God’s true wilderness provision because He was struck, and crushed for our sins.

That out of His death would flow a river and flood of everlasting life that would once for all satisfy all the thirst of our souls.

That’s what Christ says. Come to me and drink!

Believe in me!

Are you thirsty?

Several times in the Old Testament God refers to Himself as the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13) over and against sin and the false gods of the world.

He calls them broken cisterns hewed out by men for themselves, cisterns of our own hands that we make to say this will give me life!

This sin, this false god, this idolatry, this comfort of the world will satisfy my thirst.

Its what we all do.

That’s the lie of sin, your life will be empty without it.

But you know what God says their all broken.

They promise life, they promise water, but they’re all leaking.

They can’t satisfy. They will eventually run out.

And you’ll be left in the desert with no water again.

Oh that we would see sin this way.

That every time we are tempted and like Eve believe the lie that that sin is good for food and a delight to the eyes...

We would say, “No. That’s a broken cistern! Its an empty well.”

There’s not life for me there. That sin promises water…to quench my thirst…but it will only turn to dust in my mouth.

Christ and Christ alone gives the only water that will satisfy.

And what is that living water?

The fullness of eternal life.

With the woman at the well, Jesus called it the gift of God (John 4:10).

It is salvation and the fullness of salvation given to us by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone through the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit which we are going to look at in the next point.

And the idea of Jesus being the source of living water communicates several things spiritually.

Cleansing

First, cleansing.

In the Old Testament water was used for ceremonial cleansing of the body.

The idea was that sin made you unclean and if you wanted to draw near to God and worship Him you needed to be cleansed of all your sin.

And that’s what Christ does for us.

We can not clean ourselves.

Even our best efforts we cannot wash away even one of our sins.

Only Christ can do that with His own precious blood.

Wash me and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7).

Only Christ can wash away our sins.

The water of baptism only symbolizes the the true spiritual washing Christ gives through faith in His name.

Because of sin, we were far off, but because of the blood of Christ we can draw near, Hebrews 10:22, with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Life

Water also communicates life.

Its the source of life.

Without it there’s only death.

Well the Bible says we are all dead in our trespasses and sins.

And our sin is a wilderness, a wasteland of spiritual death.

A desert with no water or hope for miles.

But the water Jesus gives brings life.

Whoever believes in Him has passed from death to life (John 5:24).

Soul-Satisfying, Thirst Quenching Fullness of Joy

And finally, water - spiritual water, living water - gives the idea of Soul-Satisfying, Thirst Quenching Fullness of Joy and eternal life.

Physical water, and spiritually sin and the things of this world, always leave you thirsty again.

No matter how much you drink eventually you are going to need more.

But not the water Jesus gives

His water satisfies once and for all.

That’s why several times throughout the gospel of John, Jesus says whoever drinks of the water that I will give Him will never be thirsty again (John 4:13).

Whoever comes to me shall never hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (John 6:35).

Why?

John 10:10 I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Life overflowing-ly.

Psalm 16:11 calls it the fullness of joy.

This is what we talked about earlier.

God and His salvation is the only thing that truly satisfies. Everything else is a broken cistern.

Why?

Because we were made for God. We were made to worship God.

And living for anything less than what we were created for will always leaves empty and searching for more.

But when we worship God for all that He’s worth…All that He’s revealed Himself to be in Jesus Christ...

Father. Savior.

Gracious. Merciful. Just. Holy. Righteous. And good.

All the glory…all the weight…all the magnificence of all that God is...

…Then our souls find rest.

Then the thirst of our souls is quenched with Soul-satisfying, thirst-quenching fullness of joy.

That’s why Christ said This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3).

Summary

Christ is the True Spiritual Rock who gives True Living Water to everyone who believes in Him.

He is the source the Fountain and there is life in no one else.

Christ and Christ alone can give us living water to cleanse us from all our sin.

Raise us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

And satisfy our thirsty souls once and for all with fullness of joy in communion, love, fellowship with God Himself.

The fullness of salvation and the full forgiveness of sins because that communion, that fellowship, that love would not be possible otherwise.

And the way Christ pours out this living water…the way He gives us cleansing, life, and fullness of joy through faith in Him is through the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.

And that’s point number 2…

II. Jesus Satisfies our Thirst for Living Water with the Holy Spirit

John 7:38–39 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

This is where we get to talk about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer.

Person

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity co-equally and co-eternally God with the Father and the Son.

The Holy Spirit is a He. He is not an it.

Don’t refer to the Spirit as It.

He is a person. Not an impersonal force.

He has a will (Acts 16:6-7). He speaks. He testifies (Acts 13:2, John 15:26).

He can be lied to and we are said not to grieve Him (Acts 5:3, Eph 4:30).

These would all be things that would be improper if you were talking about an impersonal force.

The Holy Spirit is a person, He is God, and He is to be worship and glorified along with the Father and the Son.

And like I said earlier…when we comes to the Spirit we get so distracted talking about the gifts of the Spirit…

What are they, how do they work, are they still active today?...

That we completely miss the GIFT of the Holy Spirit Himself.

Salvation is Trinitarian

And that is what Jesus is talking about here.

He is the Seal and Promise of Eternal Life and Salvation.

And without the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit none of us would be saved.

The Father Elected us in Love before the foundation of the World and He Sent the Son to die in our place for our sins.

The Son gave His life as a ransom for many and fulfilled all righteousness that we might be saved.

And the Spirit takes what was purchased by the Son and applies it to those who believe in Him.

Without the work of the Holy Spirit Christ’s death and resurrection would be somewhere out there.

It would be no benefit to us because we were blind and dead in our sins.

But that’s the ministry of the Spirit. He takes what was dead and makes it alive. He opens our blind eyes to our sin and the glorious of grace of Christ and unites us to Him through faith so that His death becomes our death and His life our life.

This is what the Bible calls the New Birth.

His work is to bring the work of Christ to bear.

He applies what Christ accomplished on our behalf.

That’s why Jesus said...Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

The Scripture here is not one specific Scripture but rather a summary of the plethora of verses that connect salvation and the Holy Spirit with cleansing and life-giving water.

Let me give you a few.

Isaiah 12:1–3. I think this is the one on the forefront of Jesus mind because it was associated with the water ceremonies that Israel celebrated at the Feast of Booths.

You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. “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.

Zechariah 13:1 On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.

That fountain is Christ.

And specifically referring to the Holy Spirit and Him being both the gift and agent of life giving water… Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

So Jesus is talking about the whole matrix of passages that talk about salvation, cleansing, life, and the blessing of the Holy Spirit as life-giving, ever-flowing water.

And whoever believes in Him will have this water flowing as rivers from within Himself.

Whose Heart?

Now some take this to be Jesus’s own heart emphasizing Christ as the source of living water to believers.

But Jesus is talking about the heart of whoever believes in Him.

While it is certainly true that Christ is the source of living water to believers, Jesus’ words emphasize the quality and abundance of life believers have through faith in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

The emphasis is on the blessing of the Holy Spirit and the abundance of life believers have in Him.

This overflowing fullness…rivers!…of eternal life.

To help us understand listen closest Parallel passage we have from John 4:14 which we looked at earlier: but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

So you have a spring of water welling up to eternal life and rivers of living water flowing.

Same idea in both passage.

And the word welling up in John 4 is closer to the idea erupting up or gushing forth.

Its not just filling up or overflowing. Its a geyser or thundering waterfall of salvation that explodes within us and never stops.

So that spring is an everflowing rushing river.

And that’s the idea here. Out of His heart will flow rivers of living water.

Flows implies a never ending flow.

A continually rushing forth.

This is that fullness of life and fullness of joy that we talked about.

In fact Psalm 105 uses this word in the Greek translation about the Rock God provided water from in the wilderness.

Psalm 105:41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.

Again that idea of life in a desert wasteland.

And notice its also rivers, plural.

Its not just a river of living water.

But multiple rivers… an abundance of rivers overflowing the banks.

And some interpret this to mean that the Holy Spirit flows from the heart of the believer to the world through the preaching of the gospel, which is certainly true.

But I think the emphasis here is the everflowing, never ending life abundant enjoyed by the believer through the work of the Holy Spirit.

He continually refreshes, satisfies, brings life, cleanses as a roaring river that never runs dry flowing from Christ and the Father as the fountainhead and source.

Because this is where it gets really curious.

Verse 39: Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Its interesting that Jesus ties the rivers of living water to the Holy Spirit.

And you might be asking yourself, like I asked myself is the living water salvation and eternal life or is the living water the Holy Spirit.

The answer is yes!

The Spirit is here described as living water because He is the seal and guarantee of eternal life.

Look at…

Ephesians 1:13–14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, [there’s that connection to Jesus…He’s the Rock. He’s the Fount. When you believed...] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The gift and promise of the Holy Spirit is God’s own testimony, His guarantee, and His seal and security that we have the fullness of salvation in Jesus Christ.

He is rivers of living water because He is the seal and deposit…the giving the blessing the promise of eternal life.

Remember how we talked about living water earlier.

He dwells in us to cleanse us.

He cleanses us once and for all in our justification, but He also cleanses us progressively in our sanctification as He exposes and cuts away sin in our life.

Ezekiel 36:25–27 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses...And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

He gives us life.

We are spiritually dead in our trespasses and sins.

The Holy Spirit gives us life.

Remember what Jesus said, You must be born again.

John 3:5–6 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

In the New Birth the holy Spirit cleanses us and makes us alive again.

And then Soul-Satisfying, Thirst-Quenching fullness of Joy.

The Holy Spirit applies to us all the blessings Christ’s purchased so that we experience those blessings with joy for ourselves.

1 Corinthians 6:11 You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Titus 3:5 He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

That’s why in our passage it says Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

The Holy Spirit is connected to Christ’s finished work because He applies, and makes known, and communicates all that Christ accomplished with His finished work and brings to bear all the blessings we have in Christ on our hearts and our souls so that we experience those blessings for ourselves.

And that is what I want to talk about in point number 3 because it is by this work of the Spirit that we are refreshed and satisfied with Rivers of Living Water...

III. The Holy Spirit Illuminates and Brings to Bear All the Blessings We Have in Jesus Christ

How do you grow in Christ by the Spirit?

How do you grow in holiness? Love? Joy?

How does Christ increase and we decrease?

Turn to...

John 16:13–15 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The verse teaches us the ministry of the Spirit in the life of the Believer.

And His great work in the life of the Believer is to glorify Christ. Magnify Christ. Exalt Christ in the heart of the believer.

How?

He will take what is mine and declare it to you.

He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak.

What this means is that the Spirit proclaims the truth and grace in Jesus Christ.

All the blessings of salvation.

And by declare it to us what is meant is He will reveal them and bring them to bear so that we experience those truth, grace, and blessings for ourselves.

All that belongs to the Father and the Son - blessing, love, goodness, kindness, mercy, and grace - are poured out and given to us by the Holy Spirit.

This is why Paul is able to say in Romans 5:5: God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So let me really simplify it for you.

1. The Holy Spirit Illuminates the grace of Christ...

And 2. Brings to Bear the Grace of Christ.

Illuminates

By illuminates we mean He shines a light.

In sin we are in spiritual darkness.

He takes something that might be dark or obscure and He shines the light of Christ on it in such a way that we see it.

Understand it. Comprehend it.

We see it more clearly with more understanding of its truth and all the beauty of its ramifications.

Obviously this happens in conversion where for the first time the Holy Spirit shows us our sin for what it really is and shines the light of Christ’s grace in such a way that for the first time, He’s lovely, beautiful, to One Answer to all our spiritual need.

But He also does this progressively in our life.

We grow in knowledge.

We are transformed by the renewal of our mind.

We understand the truth of Christ and His grace more and more progressively and so grow in our love for Jesus.

For example, we move from the simple confession: Jesus died in my place for my sins…

To He bore the wrath of God on my behalf.

He drained it to the dregs.

He fulfilled all righteousness so that I could be once for all accepted and forgiven in Him by His perfect righteousness.

And then He brings that truth and that grace to bear.

Brings to Bear

If Illuminates helps us see it clearly, brings to bear helps us experience it vitally.

To know just know it intellectually, but to experience it experientially.

Even cold theology can say God loves me. But Holy Spirit empowered theology says God loved me before the foundation of the world and now, in Christ, He loves me as His own beloved Son.

He’s adopted me with all the grace and blessings that entails.

And to treasure those promises and truths.

To let the joy of them drive down and take root deep in our soul.

Bringing to bear is the difference between knowing the grace, promises, and blessings of Christ and loving those grace, promises, and blessings.

Its the difference between knowing about your salvation and actually having the joy of it!

This is what the Holy Spirit does.

He makes the rivers of living water and eternal life well up to overflowing and rushing out so that we never hunger and thirst again because all of our joy…all of our satisfaction…all of our life is found in Christ and Christ alone.

The Holy Spirit applies and makes known all the blessings we have in Christ

He applies what Christ accomplished. He makes known all the blessings Christ purchased and brings them to bear

So that we would know and enjoy the fullness of life and the joy of our salvation.

This takes us to our application. Our conclusion for this passage.

Conclusion

Your first thought might be, “Well if this is all a work of the Spirit, His work in me to make Christ more glorious so that I love Him more and live more of my life for Him, what can I do?

How do I tap into these rivers of living water so they flow forth from my heart?

1. Pray for the Spirit

Luke 11:9–13 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

When we ask for the Holy Spirit we aren’t asking for more of Him.

All believers are filled with the Holy Spirit from the New Birth.

Remember, He is the seal and guarantee. Its not as if some believers have more of the Holy Spirit than others.

What we are asking is for is for God to let the work of the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ become more and more evident in our life.

To empower us to walk in the Spirit to the glory of Christ.

To yield more and more of our life to Him and to more fully know the glory and grace we have in Christ and His saving work.

Seek and you will find. Ask and it will be given to you.

prayer is not a magical spell where we try to get God to hear us. That’s pagan.

You don’t have to convince God to pour out the Spirit to reveal more grace, comfort you in your affliction, help you live a godly life.

He delights to. He’s a good Father!

Pray God will you show me more of the glory of Christ will you pour out your Spirit…

Let me hear, and know, and experience His truth so that I might treasure Him for all that He’s worth and live all of my life for Him and for your glory?

And number 2…

2. Feast on the Word

Read your Bible.

I know. Its novel. If you want to grow in Christ pray and read your Bible.

But those are the means the Holy Spirit uses to show us the glory of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said He will guide you in all truth (John 16:13).

John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

The Holy Spirit grows and sanctifies us through the Word of Christ.

Its through the Word He brings illuminates and brings to bear all the truth and grace we have in Christ and how the streams of living water grow into roaring rivers in our souls.

Christ’s truth, the things of the Father and the Son come to us in the Word written and the Word preach.

It is through the Spirit empowered ministry of the Word - Reading your Bible, Podcasts, Sermons, Christian Books - that the truth and grace of Christ come alive.

That we see His beauty. Glory. Grace. Love. Kindness. And Mercy.

We taste and see that the Lord is good and love Christ all the more (Psalm 34:8).

And out of that love for Him we live for Him.

That is how the Holy Spirit sanctifies through the Word.

And number 3...

3. Do not grieve or quench the Spirit.

Both are commandments in Scripture (Eph 4:30, 1 Thes 5:19).

As the Spirit works, we follow Him in sanctification.

We strive to walk in the Spirit and not according to the flesh.

If He so condescends to reveal the truth and grace we have in Christ we don’t quench the Spirit like throwing a wet log on the fire.

We do all that we can - spiritual disciplines, repentance of sin - to breath it into flame asking the Spirit for more and more grace.

Sin brings death.

How can you drink the rivers of living water if you walk in the flesh and not in the Spirit.

But most important of all if you want the Joy, the fullness of life of rushing rivers of living water, you must...

4. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

John 7:37 If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

There is no other fountain of living water.

No other way to satisfy your thirsty soul.

Look at the words Jesus stood up and cried out.

He shouted this invitation for all to hear, all who were near and far off.

Its a free and gracious invitation urging all sinners, everyone to believe in Him.

Sin and the things of this world are broken cisterns that will always leave you dry.

But not Christ.

Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life (John 4:14).

Drinking from Jesus looks like believing and trusting in Him and His sacrifice and resurrection as the only payment for all of your sins.

And this is a gift of God’s grace.

Remember the Rock in the wilderness.

The water was a free gift.

The people had sinned. They did not deserve.

And when Moses struck the Rock, water rushed forth to give life to the people of God in the wilderness.

But they all drank and they all died.

Whoever drinks living water from Christ will live forever. They will have the fullness of eternal life.

He is the Rock of our salvation, struck for the sins of His people, and when He died they pierced His side and blood and water rushed forth.

Blood to atone for our sins.

And water to cleanse us with the Living Water of the promised Holy Spirit.