Title: River of Living Water/John 7:37-40
Contents River of living water/John 7:37-40
“On the last day of the feast, on the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, saying… ” (John 7:37-40)
Word: The week-long Feast of Tabernacles commemorative festival concludes with a ceremony to draw water from Siloam Pond and pour it on the altar. This ceremony was a commemorative ceremony to thank God for watering Israel from the rock when they were living in the wilderness and to pray for continued rain so that they would not run out of crops in the Promised Land. “You will draw water from the wells of salvation with joy” (Isaiah 12:3). As we look at these last-day ordinances, Jesus speaks of the spiritual significance of those ordinances.
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture says, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water."
These words of Jesus are reminiscent of a conversation he had with a Samaritan woman at Suga. “Whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never thirst. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water springing up to everlasting life” (John 4:14).
What is the principle of the 'flowing principle' that Jesus spoke of? This is the priming principle. When I drink Jesus, the water comes into me and calls forth rivers of living water. The spiritual treasures within us are called out through Jesus. Spring water means flowing and clear, and rivers of living water mean a tremendous amount of water.
The river of living water is water flowing from the temple in Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 47, and it has great power to move people according to the flow of water, starting with ankles, knees and waists, and then lifting people up. This means the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is greater than the temple, and the work of the Holy Spirit begins from Jesus and flows like a river. After the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the work of the Holy Spirit, which we could not have imagined in the past, will take place. The problem we run into is that we float boats in shallow water. Just as a boat gets caught on a rock, it often gets in trouble when the water level in the river is low. You can pray for the rock to be removed, but it is better to pray for more water to raise the water level. If the water overflows over the rock, the boat will overturn the rock. It is better to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit than to solve individual problems.
It is prophesied that the work of the Holy Spirit will be abundantly revealed after Jesus was glorified, and the glory here means the cross of Jesus. The cross is not a shame, it is a glory.