Living Water: The Holy Spirit

We're at John chapter 7 and I'm actually going to skip around a little bit starting at verse 1 and we'll make our way through a few verses in this chapter. This all has to do with an occasion where Jesus has gone to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. So, I want to kind of thread some of the verses together. Let's start at verse 1, John 7 verse 1. It says, after these things Jesus walked in Galilee for he did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill him. Now, the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. Now, jump to verse 10. In verse 10 it says, but when his brothers had gone up then he also went up to the feast, not openly but as it were in secret. And then the Jews sought him at the feast and said, where is he? And there was much complaining among the people concerning him. Some said he is good, others said no. On the contrary, he deceives the people. However, no one spoke openly of him for fear of the Jews. And now jump down to verse 37. Verse 37 says, on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. And then verse 39 John says, but this he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Let's pause there and pray. Father, it's good to be in your house. Open the eyes of our hearts now as we study this story together. We thank you for your Word today and pray that you would use it to speak to us now. We love you in Jesus' name and everyone said, Amen. This last verse here that I mentioned from verse 39 where John adds commentary to what Jesus said there in the temple square on the Feast of Tabernacles. Read

again verse 39. John says, but this he spoke, this reference to living water. This he spoke concerning the Spirit whom those believing in him would receive for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. This is not the first time that the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Gospel of John. In fact, John refers to the Holy Spirit three times just in chapter 1. But this is the first time in John's Gospel where it is mentioned that one can receive the Holy Spirit personally. And that's why John adds commentary there in verse 39 saying that when Jesus stood up at this Feast of Tabernacles and spoke about living water that in fact he was referring to the Holy Spirit. And Jesus capitalized always on taking literal elements to bring spiritual truth to bear. Because he chose this particular ceremony, the Feast of Tabernacles which we'll talk about in a moment. He used this particular ceremony that involved water being poured out at the altar as an opportunity to introduce us to the Holy Spirit. And Jesus was masterful at this, taking literal elements to communicate spiritual truth. Just last week in chapter 6 we talked about how after Jesus fed the 5,000 that they were hungry for more. And they searched for Jesus because they wanted to be fed more bread. And Jesus says, you're only coming to me because I filled your belly. You're not really seeking me for me. And he used the opportunity of literal bread to help them understand about spiritual bread. He says, I'm the bread of life. In other words, if you have a relationship with me, it'll satisfy the deepest hunger of your soul. A few weeks ago we looked at chapter 4 where Jesus did the same thing. There's a conversation with the woman at the well. A woman comes for literal water and Jesus takes

the opportunity to help her understand spiritual water. In other words, if you have a relationship with me, I will quench the deepest thirst of your soul like no one and nothing else can. He's doing the same thing here in chapter 7. Because the Feast of Tabernacles involved the pouring out of water around the altar. It's what we refer to as a water libation. It was an offering of praise to God by pouring out water. And Jesus uses that opportunity to talk about living water. And so, as John tells us, Jesus is using this to introduce us to the Holy Spirit. So, here's Here Jesus is in this public ceremony, you have to envision this, there in Jerusalem where he is, you know, lifting up his voice in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles. And he says, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of him will flow rivers of living water. And so he talks here about the Holy Spirit, and I think that if Jesus finds it important enough to interrupt a public ceremony, to introduce people to the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit should be important enough for us today to also understand why we should receive what Jesus has to offer. So I'm going to talk a little bit today about the Holy Spirit, and I'm going to talk about the Holy Spirit, but first, I think that when you think about how Christians in general about the Holy Spirit, in my opinion, Christians can fall into three camps related to the topic of the Holy Spirit. Either the misinformed, the uninformed, or the well-informed. It's true. The misinformed, those who are misinformed about the Holy Spirit, are those who have placed an overemphasis on the supernatural things, and have run after all kinds of unusual spiritual manifestations, all of which should not necessarily be attributed to the Holy Spirit, but because they are not wise or discerning about those things, it has led to abuses within the church and downright weird practices among some Christians, which has understandably

frightened others from even wanting to understand about the Holy Spirit. So there are some misinformed in regards to this topic. There are some uninformed. Some people have simply not been taught from the Bible about the Holy Spirit. Either they've never been exposed to biblical teachings about the Holy Spirit, or they've attended a church where the Holy Spirit was the unmentioned part of the Trinity, and where the book of Acts was kind of relegated to another time and another place, but not really applicable to our lives today, and therefore you don't really know what to believe about the Holy Spirit. And finally, there are the well-informed, which I hope that we would strive to be. People who have a balanced biblical understanding of the Holy Spirit, not an overemphasis or an under-emphasis of the Spirit, but a proper view of who the Holy Spirit is and the Holy Spirit's role in the life of the believer. So that's my goal today, that we would all be well-informed people about who the Holy Spirit is and the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer today. This will not be an exhaustive study. There's plenty more that the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. In fact, when we get later in the Gospel of John, chapters 14 through 16, Jesus has more to say about the Holy Spirit. So it won't be exhaustive today, but for today we will be looking at the person and the role of the Holy Spirit. Now first, before we dive into this, why did Jesus choose to use the Feast of Tabernacles to introduce us to the topic of the Holy Spirit? The answer is because of the imagery. So here's a little background on the Feast of Tabernacles. It was one of three feasts that every Jewish male, 21 years and older, was required to go to Jerusalem to celebrate. And so here Jesus is in Jerusalem, it's the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Tabernacles was a celebration to commemorate God's faithfulness to the Hebrew people during the time of their wilderness wanderings for 40 years, from when they left

Egypt as slaves to when they get to the Promised Land of Israel. And during those 40 years in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, God wonderfully provided for His people, materially. He provided for them food, and He also, especially, essentially, provided water for them in the wilderness. So one of the things that the Jewish people did in commemorating the Feast of Tabernacles to remember God's gracious provision was that this was a seven-day feast. It had an eighth day that was a consecrated, a sacred assembly, no work was to be done. But for seven days, they would build little huts, and they would build them to remember how they were cared for by God's shelter during the wilderness years. And so the Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Booths, because they would build these booths. In Hebrew, it is called the Feast of Sukkot, because sukkot from a Hebrew word, sukkah, meaning hut. hut or booth. So they would build these little booths, these little huts out of like tree limbs or palm branches and fabric and they would live in them for seven days to remember how God took care of them during those 40 years of wilderness wanderings. And you know even today, you go to Israel and when they celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, they're building these little makeshift shelters in their backyards and it's a wonderful way for dads to, you know, connect with their kids and these little backyard camping experiences for seven days straight and then at the end of the seven days every dad is glad that this feast comes around only once a year. It's a little tough to go camping with your kids for seven days in the backyard, but that's what they will still do today, to remember the Feast of Tabernacles. In Jesus' day, one of the things that was involved in the Feast of Tabernacles was the priest would take a golden pitcher there at the Temple Mount and go down the incline, the decline, down to the southern part of the city of Jerusalem where the Pool of Siloam was. The priest would dip his golden pitcher into the Pool of Siloam, withdraw water, he would do this every day for the seven days of the feast. He would return to the Temple area, march up to the Temple Mount area. Every time he would draw water from the Pool of Siloam, he would quote from Isaiah 12, verse 3, which says, with

joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. He would march back up to the Temple Mount area and pour out the water around the altar to commemorate the way that God provided water in the wilderness, to thank God for His provision of water. On the seventh day, the last and greatest day of the feast, the priest would do something different from the previous six. He would take the water, same way, Pool of Siloam, march back up Temple Mount, pour out the water around the altar, and as he would, he would quote this time from Isaiah 44, verse 3, which says, I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. And so, this is what the priest would declare, Isaiah 44, 3, on the last day as he's pouring this out. Now, picture this. Here people are gathered around the Temple area. They're celebrating with joy God's gracious provision during the wilderness years. They're thanking God for His provision of water. The priest quotes from Isaiah 44, 3, I will pour water on him who is thirsty and floods on the dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants and my blessing on your offspring. And right at this point, Jesus stands up and with a loud voice says, and if anyone is thirsty, let him come and drink from Me. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. You gotta imagine this scene. A holy hush comes over the crowd right at this moment. Because Jesus is basically saying, by the way, what this priest has been quoting year after year from Isaiah 44, 3, it's a reference to Me. And if you really want to be refreshed, you need to drink of the living water that I offer. And He declares Himself to be a fulfillment of Isaiah 44, 3. And John adds verse 39 to help us understand. Hey, He was specifically talking about the Holy Spirit, the living water of the Holy Spirit, and that anyone who believes in Jesus might be filled with His Holy Spirit. But John says, but this He said because the Spirit had not yet been given, but later we would receive after Jesus had been glorified. Now, this is what we need to understand. The Holy Spirit had not been poured out upon all believers in Jesus because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. He had not yet died and been raised from the dead with a glorified body. Now, the Holy Spirit was available prior to Jesus going to the cross, but only on assignment, not to all people. God would give the Holy Spirit on assignment as He determined in the Old Testament. Joseph was filled with the Spirit in Genesis. Moses was filled with the Spirit in Exodus.

Joshua was filled with the Spirit in Deuteronomy. You look at the various judges and kings, they were also, by assignment, filled with the Spirit. Saul was filled with the Spirit. David was filled with the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit was not available to all people until Jesus had died and risen from the dead and been glorified. This is why Jesus gave a preview to His own disciples when He said in John 16, 7, unless I go away, the help or the counselor, the Holy Spirit will not come, but I go away so that he will come. I will not leave you as orphans. And so Jesus was talking about the time when the Holy Spirit would come in order to fill those who believe in Jesus with God's Holy Spirit. And now upon all who believe, we can receive today. This is why Jesus in his parting words, right? Just before he ascends back into heaven, he says in Acts 1, 4 to 5, he says to his own disciples, he says, wait in Jerusalem for the promise of my father, which you have heard from me, for John, John the Baptist, truly baptized you with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days. So wait in Jerusalem. And now ever since then, when 120 followers of Jesus in the upper room received the Holy Spirit, ever since then, God's Holy Spirit is available to all who believe in Jesus Christ, including us here today. So I wanna save some time because we're gonna have communion at the close of the service,

but I'm gonna rapidly go through the rest of the teaching today. Try to keep up if you're taking notes, but if you're not, it's okay because they archive this tomorrow and then you can put me on pause and rewrite this if you need to. Here's a few things first about the person of the Holy Spirit. Number one, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, one God who reveals himself in a plurality of three persons, God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. So when we speak of the Holy Spirit, we're talking about that third part of a singular God. This is a mystery, I get it. It's hard sometimes to grasp this, that there is one God who reveals himself in three persons, but there are no human illustrations that can really help us to comprehend it. The closest one I've ever heard is when you pass a beam of light, a single strand of light through a prism, you get three primary colors. It refracts into three colors. It's one light revealed in three colors. That's probably the closest we can come to understanding a very profound and deep mystery, but we're not talking three different gods.

We're talking one single God who reveals himself in three persons, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Number two, the Holy Spirit has always existed, being co-equal and co-eternal with God. We see him in the story of creation in Genesis 1-2. And also, number three, the Holy Spirit is not an it. Please don't refer to the Holy Spirit as it, or just a force. He has all the attributes of personality. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2-11 that he has a mind. He understands the mind of the Father. He has a will in 1 Corinthians 12-11. It says he distributes spiritual gifts as he wills. And he has emotion. In Ephesians 4-30, it tells us that it's possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit. And so, this is the person of the Holy Spirit. Now, there are different roles that the Holy Spirit has, and believe it or not, I'm gonna race through 10 roles. 10? 10, and we're still gonna have communion, so trust me on this. Number one, there's a convicting role of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, verse eight, the Bible says, "'And when he, the Holy Spirit, has come,' "'Jesus speaking, he will convict the world of sin "'and of righteousness and of judgment.'" Now, notice this. The very first person involved

in your salvation experience is the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our hearts to help us understand that we're sinners. We're all sinners, but not everybody gets that. Some people think of themselves, comparatively speaking, with others, and therefore, they justify their behavior because they can always find someone else worse than themselves. That's a terrible thing to do, but that's what a lot of people do. Well, I know I'm not perfect, but at least I'm not an ax murderer. Do you know an ax murderer? I've never met one. Like, why are you comparing yourself to a person you've never met? The only standard of comparison is Jesus, and when we compare ourselves to Jesus, we fall woefully short. So, we all need a Savior, and the Holy Spirit brings conviction to our hearts that we're sinners, and therefore, we need a Savior. And by the way, the convicting work of the Holy Spirit is not just in order to help us come to salvation by recognizing we're sinful, but even after we get saved. The Holy Spirit is constantly working on us to convict us of when we're disobeying God, and when we're dishonoring God.

Don't despise the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That's God's way of helping you to stay right with Him. Holy Spirit convicts us to get right with God and then in an ongoing way the Holy Spirit convicts us to stay right with God so a convicting role number two a saving role in Titus 3 4 to 6 it says but when the kindness and the love of God our Savior Toward man appeared not by works of righteousness, which we have done but according to his mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us Abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior notice after the Holy Spirit does his convicting work Then the Holy Spirit does his saving work to help us exercise faith in Jesus as our Savior to help us respond and receive the mercy of God The mercy expressed to us through a cross when Jesus dies on a cross So he convicts us and then he helps us to exercise faith that we might be saved Number three, there's an assuring role of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 15 and 16 It says for you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear But you receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba Father the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God The assurance that we have of our salvation Is something that the Holy Spirit continually does To remind us that we're children of God You know, there are plenty of competing voices in this world. We have our own self-talk We have the world talking we have the enemy whispering and a lot of times we can doubt our salvation a Lot of times we can doubt if we're really forgiven if we're really loved as God Did God really save me and the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in part is to assure us of our salvation There's a wonderful old hymn of our faith called just that blessed assurance Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine heir of salvation Purchase of God born of his spirit washed in his blood. This is my story This is my song praising my Savior all the day long

Well, the one who helps us to understand that blessed assurance is the Holy Spirit Number four the empowering role of the Holy Spirit in Acts 1 8 it says but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and Indulge Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth and in Acts 4 31 It says and when they had prayed the place where they were Assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with boldness So I hide I highlighted the word power in Acts 1 8 and boldness there in Acts 4 31 Because this is that empowering work of the Holy Spirit the power That is mentioned in English in our Bibles is the Greek word in the original New Testament Dunamis we get our English word dynamite from that word. There's this dynamic powerful work of the Holy Spirit to empower us to embolden us as Witnesses for the Lord. This is this is that work of God's Spirit To help us to resist temptation by his power to help us to be faithful Witnesses to be unafraid about sharing the good news of our testimony about Jesus. That's the work of the Holy Spirit He's empowering us from within To do his good work number five. His role is fruit-producing In Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 25. It says but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace long suffering or patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such there is no law and those who are Christ's have Crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if we live in the Spirit Let us also walk in the Spirit. So Paul tells us here in his letter to the Galatians that the Holy Spirit will provide the Character of the Spirit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives when we walk according to the Spirit and when we crucify our flesh you see when we get saved We still have a body of flesh and our body of flesh will have

fleshly appetites and desires and This is why you will experience what Paul refers to in the book of Romans as the warring of my members Because there is this conflict that happens in the heart of every person who accepts Christ as Lord and Savior you get saved Your spirit gets regenerated, but your spirit regenerated is housed within a body that is not regenerated. And eventually we die and we shed this body, and we go to be with the Lord, so we don't have the temptations of this body and the desires of this body. But until that day, there's a war. There's a war between the spirit of God within us and our flesh. And in case you haven't noticed, your flesh always wants to dominate, always. And so it's like whack-a-mole. You ever gone to like Chuck E. Cheese? Back in the day when our kids were young, thank God we've been delivered from the demon of Chucky. But back in the day, you just had to be like whack, whack, whack, whack, whack, you know, the whack-a-mole thing. And that's how it is kind of with our flesh. Every time the fleshly desires, you know, start to creep up, we have to like whack, whack, and get it under submission to the spirit of God. But when you walk by the spirit, then you will demonstrate the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. When you walk according to the flesh, you will demonstrate quite the opposite of all that. You'll be very unloving, you'll be very impatient, you'll be very joyless, all those things. And so that's why Paul says here, we gotta die. We gotta die to the flesh and walk according to the spirit. And God's spirit will give us his fruit as evidence that we belong to him. Number six, he's also a gift-giving Holy Spirit. Now there are different passages in the Bible that talk about the gifts of the spirit. I'm only gonna read from 1 Corinthians 12, a few verses, but also Romans 12 and Ephesians

4 speak about some more gifts of the spirit. But this is what it says in 1 Corinthians 12, 7 to 11. It says, but the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually as he wills. Now there are various gifts of the spirit that God distributes to believers for the purpose of glorifying God and edifying or building up the church. The gifts of the spirit are somewhat controversial in some circles of the church today. There are some who believe, I don't hold to this belief, but there are some who believe that the gifts are no longer available. The list I just read to you were only available in the first century, but at the end of the apostolic age when the last of the apostles died, so did the gifts of the spirit. They argue for that position on the basis of one verse out of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 10, which says this, when that which is perfect is come, that which is imperfect will pass away. And the gifts of the spirit are imperfect in the sense that, you know, that we are imperfect people using gifts that will be unnecessary eventually when we're with the Lord. And so some believe that 1 Corinthians 13.10 means the completion of the Bible. When that which is perfect is come, the completion of the canon of scripture, then that which is imperfect, the gifts will pass away. But when you look at the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 13, it's all on the basis of when we will eventually be with the Lord. Because just a couple verses later in 1 Corinthians 13.12, Paul writes, now we see, but as in a glass or a mirror, dimly. Like we don't understand everything this side of heaven.

He adds, now I know in part, but then, then, when I'm with the Lord, I shall know fully even as I am fully known. That is when all the gifts will be unnecessary, when we are in the presence of the giver. Until that day, I don't believe that the gifts petered out with Peter. I think they're still available. Now you can disagree. It's fine. You're entitled to be wrong. I'm just saying that, now there's good people who disagree about this, but, but we believe the gifts are still available. But we have to stop the nonsense of the excess and the abuses. You see, there's a handbook. It's the Bible and it's given to us as a way to make sure things are always done decently and in order. When you look at the various passages of the Bible, it appears that there's about 20 different spiritual gifts and God gives them to believers so that collectively together using the gifts God has given us, we glorify God and we edify, we build up the body of Christ. Number seven, I gotta, I gotta hurry through or I'm not going to be true to my word. Number seven, there's a counseling, comforting role. of the Holy Spirit. In John chapter 14 verse 16, Jesus says, And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever. And in verse 26 he says, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Now, notice in those two verses the word helper. In the Greek it is the word perikletos, and it means one who is called alongside of another. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He comes alongside of us. Perikletos can be translated helper, comforter, or counselor. And he's there. He's there to help us, to minister to us, to be our comforter, to counsel us. Number eight, there's a revealing role of the Holy Spirit. First Corinthians 2, 9, and 10. It says, But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for

those who love him. But God has revealed them to us through his Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. So God reveals some things to us by the Holy Spirit. Now, not all things this side of heaven. Some things will still be and always will be a mystery. But then there are other deep things of God that the Holy Spirit reveals to us that without his help we wouldn't understand. Anybody ever read your Bible and at times are reading your Bible going, I have no idea what this means? Yeah. Well, that's a good place for you to pray and say, Lord, by your Holy Spirit, reveal to me the deep things of God that I might understand what I'm reading. Number nine, two more, but number nine, there's a guiding role of the Holy Spirit. In John 16, 13 to 14, it says, But when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. Notice that he will guide you. With all the insanity in the world, it's good to know that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to guide us into all truth. He will help us to separate fact from fiction and right from wrong so that we can walk in the truth of Jesus. And then finally, number 10, there's an interceding role of the Holy Spirit. This is Romans 8, 26, which says, Likewise, the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses, for we do not know what we ought to pray, what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Have you ever been so at the end of your rope and in such despair or in such grief or turmoil that you didn't even know how to pray? Those times when you're just on your face on the carpet, weeping and not even knowing how to communicate to God. Well, good news, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with words that cannot be uttered, and he translates our heart to the heart of God, even when we have nothing to say. This is the interceding role of the Holy Spirit. So no wonder Jesus says, Come unto me, if you're thirsty, and drink, because he knows how much we need the living water of God's Holy Spirit. So let's pray and ask him to fill us afresh, and then we're going to receive communion. Ushers, you can come. Father, we just pause right now to pray for a fresh infilling and overflowing of your Holy Spirit. Lord, we are dry and thirsty people in need of the refreshing of your living water, so pour into us right now, we pray. Revive us. Quench our thirst, Lord. Fill us to overflowing with

your Holy Spirit, and we thank you, Lord, and we praise you together. Fill us afresh. Pour out your Spirit, Lord. We thank you for the promise of your Holy Spirit. We drink of your Spirit today. Revive us and refresh us, Lord. Do a good and powerful work in us through the work of your Holy Spirit, and we thank you, and we praise you together. In Jesus' name, amen.