Sunday, November 3, 2013

What It Means to be Filled with the Holy Spirit # 19

"Out of His Belly Shall Flow Rivers of Living Water" (continued)

In the Greek the phrase, "Jesus stood," implies that Jesus was standing and watching the people participate in this great feast; the sense behind these words also indicate that His heart and thoughts were full. And from what He said on the last day of the feast, His thoughts were full of the great change that was about to take place, for He knew the Cross was imminent. He knew that this change would bring the old ways to an end, and that in Him would be the New and Living Way. He knew that out of Him, out of His Innermost Being would flow Rivers of Living Waters. First of all, Jesus said thee words of Himself; then, because we are in Him, it is in the measure that we are filled in the Spirit that this River of His Life, that the Livingness of His Life, shall by the Spirit flow through us - "out of His Belly shall flow River of Living Water."

Now we do not know exactly when Jesus spoke these words on the last day of the feast, but we do know that they were said exactly at God's appointed time, for Jesus said, "I can of Mine Own Self do nothing" (John 5:30). We know that the people who heard His Words would understand some of the significance of these Rivers of Living Waters, for they had witnessed the pouring of the water on the altar for seven days. We know that the Words of Jesus must have reminded them of the river of water that had gushed out of the rock in the wilderness (Exodus 17:6). Also, when Jesus said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink," it must have called to their minds the prophetic words of Isaiah: "Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (55:1). Some of them must have surely thought of Ezekiel and his "waters to swim in" (Eze. 47:1-5). Jesus' Words spoke of all these Scriptures, and of many others, because Jesus Himself is the fulfillment of them.

However, the Gospel of John tells us that these Words of the Lord Jesus, spoken on the last great day of the feast, had an even fuller meaning, for His Words were speaking of a new beginning for those who believed. The Words of the Lord Jesus Christ were speaking of the Holy Spirit, "Which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified."

So, what does it mean that the Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified? In the Gospel of John, the word "glory", or "glorify" is used at least 42 times. Beloved, as Christians, we must see that no matter how mankind may apply the word glory, the word "glory" can only be attributed to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is because the word "glory," in its truest sense and meaning, speaks of the manifestation of ALL that God Was, and Is, and Ever-Shall-Be - and the manifestation of God's Glory can only be found in His Son. - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, Full of Grace and Truth" (John 1:1, 14).

We have seen that the Gospel of John is the book of Glory. It is the manifestation of ALL that God is in His Son: "I AM the Bread of Life - I AM the Light of the World - I AM the Good Shepherd - I AM the Resurrection, and the Life - I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life - I AM the True Vine." Thus, the Gospel of John makes it clear that Christ is the Full and Complete Manifestation of the Glory of God.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 20)

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