Title: River of Living Water
Contents
Text: John 7:37-39
Hallelujah!
Members of the Shepherd Church, which God Himself created on the morning of the first Sunday of the new year, purchased with His blood, and sealed with the Holy Spirit, more precious than all things and more honorable than angels,
In the new year, I pray that God will live a life of dignity that is worthy of love and blessing. A person should know how important their self-portrait is. In particular, we believers need to realize and know that our self-portrait is more precious than the angels in heaven, more precious than all living things, and more than all things, because we were redeemed by the blood of Jesus and sealed by the Holy Spirit as children of God.
Currently, due to the influence of industrialization, air and water are polluted a lot, so we install water purifiers in every house and buy water. However, in desert areas where there is no water or in fields where rain is scarce, water is life.
① In Genesis 21:15, when Hagar, Abraham's second wife, and Ishmael, son of Abraham, fell to their death due to water falling from the field, God showed them a spring of water and brought them back to life.
② Also in Exodus 17:1-2, there is a scene where the people of Israel are raging in the wilderness after the Exodus because of lack of water.
③ In 1 Kings 17-18, there is a scene of severe famine because the gates of heaven were closed for 3 years and 6 months for 3 years and 6 months due to the sin of serving idols during the reign of King Ahab. In the Old Testament, water is said to be necessary for life. However, in the New Testament Luke 16:19, in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, we see a rich man suffering in the flames of hell. ‘Cool my tongue with just a drop of water’. Here, water is life.
Today's text says, "If you are thirsty, come to me and drink." It is to give you abundance from hunger, pain, and spiritual poverty. Even if you have a lot of possessions to become rich, you become an intellectual with a lot of knowledge, and even if you have power with power, in terms of spiritual hunger, like a foolish rich, no one can escape. The things of the world cannot satisfy you, fill the void, and satisfy your thirst, so come.
As long as Isaiah 55:1 of the Old Testament says, "Come to the waters, all you who thirst," the New Testament text answers today's text. “From his belly will flow rivers of living water.” In other words, spiritual hunger and thirst are resolved. But do you know why I still have a thirst even if I believe in Jesus? It is because they do not receive the Holy Spirit and live as spiritual knaves. Therefore, you must receive the Holy Spirit.
Church growth scholar Dr. Myung-hoon Myeong-hoon surveyed the slogans of each church every year and came up with statistics. This is to return to a time when the power of the Holy Spirit was there, there was a history of revival, and there was life in the church. This is the time when the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, works. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, lived, and sent the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament era, people were destroyed if they did not obey God the Father, and in the New Testament era, they were destroyed because they did not believe in the Son Jesus as their Savior. In the age of the Holy Spirit, if you deny the Holy Spirit, do not receive it, and blaspheme, you will be destroyed.
A person becomes a believer only when he loves the soul more than the body and values it more. As 3 John verse 2 says, “I want you to prosper in all things and be in good health, just as your soul prospers”, health and prosperity are both important, but the well-being of your soul is the most important thing. Then what does the soul do? It does not prosper with worldly money, fame, or knowledge, but only with the Holy Spirit. If you are filled with the Holy Spirit, living water will flow like a river filled with the Holy Spirit even in this world that is like a dry wilderness.
Because this society puts the body before the soul, morality and ethics are falling, and politics and Society is insecure and suicide and robbery are on the rise. Even now, in this society that only seeks money and pleasure for the flesh, there are 12 million Christians in this nation. This is the hope and hope of this nation.
Dear members of Shepherd Church,
I hope for the day when a river of living water flows for all of us. To do that, we dream of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Let all churches in Korea, Suwon Shepherd Church, and all of us be filled with the Holy Spirit so that living water flows like a river. Looking forward to the day that flows from South Korea to North Korea and from Korea to the world, I pray that we will all be leading the way. Hallelujah!!!!