Day Thirty One—Rivers of Living Water 37 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. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 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. This goes to a point I made earlier but I can expand on it much more here because Jesus makes this plain. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon certain individuals for a specific purpose and for a certain period of time and then left. You can see that in several encounters in the Old Testament. Remember we are still in the Old Testament dispensation until Jesus dies on the cross and is raised from the dead. It is at that point the New Testament (Covenant) begins. Jesus speaks specifically here that anyone who believes in Him will have rivers of living water flow out of them and He is specifically speaking about the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. When we believe and accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within our spirit—we have spiritual re-birth, so to speak. Another event can occur with every believer when there is a baptism in the Holy Spirit in which the Spirit fills the Believer to over flowing. How do I know this? When Jesus was resurrected, He came to the disciples and ‘…breathed on them the Holy Spirit.’ John 20:22. It was at this point that they were born again and became true believers YET they needed a filling of the Holy Spirit that would equip them for the work of the ministry that we see in Acts: 1:4 While he was with them, he declared, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait there for what my Father promised, which you heard about from me. 1:5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Jesus has already breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit and yet He then commands them to stay in Jerusalem until they are baptized in the Holy Spirit which is going to happen on the Day of Pentecost. On that day, the Church was born and the Holy Spirit no longer resided in Heaven but now came and resided in the Believer. This is the one of the changes between the Old Testament and New Testament. The Spirit is within EVERY SINGLE believer—that is you and me—empowering us to carry out the work of the ministry. It is the very same Spirit that empowered Jesus to do the things He did. It is the very same Spirit that raised Him from the dead. It is the very same Spirit that empowered the disciples and the early Church fathers. It is the very same Spirit that changed the world during the first, second and third century. It is the very same Spirit that wants to change the world in the twenty first century through you and me. Are you up for it?
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:33:57 +0000
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