Holy spirit alphabet vol. 7

HOLY SPIRIT ALPHABET VOL. 7
WRITTEN AND EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
CONTENTS
WATER
WIND
WISDOM
WITNESS
WORKS
WORSHIP
YIELDING
ZEAL
WATER
HOLY SPIRIT LESSON 3 from SMALL GROUP BY GLENN PEASE
WATER AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
Although 70 percent of the world is covered by water, less than 1 percent of it is
drinkable by humans. Water conservation and sanitation are crucial matters in
many parts of the world, as all life depends on having sanitary water.
The average person needs a minimum of 64 ounces of water per day. Depending on
a person's fitness and activity level, more water may be needed to maintain proper
hydration. Blood is about 92 percent water, which is how water helps to transport
oxygen, nutrients and vitamins throughout the body. Transported oxygen allows the

body to function during periods of physical exertion.
Water makes up more than two thirds of human body weight, and without water, we
would die in a few days. The human brain is made up of 95% water, and lungs 90%.
A mere 2% drop in our body's water supply can trigger signs of dehydration: fuzzy
short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on smaller
print, such as a computer screen. (Are you having trouble reading this? Drink up!)
Mild dehydration is also one of the most common causes of daytime fatigue. An
estimated seventy-five percent of Americans have mild, chronic dehydration. Pretty
scary statistic for a developed country where water is readily available through the
tap or bottle water
Water is at the centre of physical life: so is the Holy Spirit central to the spiritual
life of a believer. He is the One responsible for regeneration. He is cleansing,
refreshing, and life-giving. We need water for every joint and every vital function
of our natural body. So too, we need to walk and live in the Spirit of God every day.
Water in the Bible
How many times is "water" mentioned in the Bible and how significant is it?
I have run the references to water (or derivatives of it) in scripture and come up
with 722. The significance of water in scripture is a huge question, and one that will
take up more space than I have here. Perhaps I can give you just a few thoughts that
will wet your appetite for further study.
The first mention of water in scripture is found in Genesis 1:2
and the last mention is found in Revelation 22:17
. In between those two books water flows right through the pages of scripture. This
should teach is that there is a great spiritual significance to it.
John 7:37-39 HOLY SPIRIT

Question: "What did Jesus mean when He spoke of living water?"
Answer: Jesus uses the phrase “living water” in two instances in the Bible. The first
instance is found in John chapter 4. Jesus was tired and sat at a well while His
disciples went into town to buy food. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and
Jesus asked her for a drink. The Samaritan woman was quite shocked because Jesus
was a Jew, and Jews simply hated the Samaritans. Of course, she had no idea who
Jesus was and asked Him how He could ask her for water since He was a Jew.
Jesus ignored the question and went right to the point, “If you knew the gift of God
and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would
have given you living water” (John 4:10). Notice that He does not say that He is the
living water, but that He would give living water to her, and when she received it,
she would never thirst again. Of course, that does not tell us what the living water is!
For that, we must go to another passage of Scripture. In this case, Jesus is in the
temple surrounded by a throng of worshippers. He suddenly cried out, “If anyone is
thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said,
‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the
Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet
given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:37–39, emphasis added).
Here Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the living water. External influence of the
Spirit had always been given in the conversion and sanctification of the Old
Testament saints and prophets, but the gift of the Spirit who would indwell believers
had not yet been received (Acts 10:44–45). So, though many people say that Jesus is
the living water, Jesus Himself intended the phrase to mean the Holy Spirit who
dwells in believers and seals them for salvation (Ephesians 1:13–14). It is the
ministry of the Spirit, flowing out of a heart redeemed by God, that blesses believers
and, through them, brings life and light to the world.
This picture of LIVING WATER is especially dramatic in the Mid East which has a
paucity of water. Jerusalem for example has only one source of "living (flowing)
water," the Gihon ("Breaking, Gushing Forth") Spring (2Chr 32:30) which flow
down Hezekiah's underground tunnel and empty into the Pool of Siloam.
[Wikipedia Note on Gihon Spring - One of the world's major intermittent springs—

and a reliable water source that made human settlement possible in ancient
Jerusalem—the spring was not only used for drinking water, but also initially for
irrigation of gardens in the adjacent Kidron Valley which provided a food source for
the ancient settlement.] Other water was collected in cisterns during the infrequent
rains and was not flowing (accounting for God's use in Jer 2:13, a picture with
which the Jews would have been very familiar.) Indeed, sources of "living water"
were rare and their discovery was accompanied by great rejoicing. How tragic that
God's people rejected His offer of life giving water in Christ, the ultimate Source of
soul satiation and jubilation!
37On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice,
"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.
John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will
flow from within them."
Jesus took a few loaves and fed the five thousand, and here he takes a drink and
multiplies it so it becomes not a pond,or stream only but rivers of living water
flowing from the one who drinks. And then he says-
39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit to take the drink and pour out rivers of living water.
Now lets face it, I never heard any preacher give a sermon on this, and I never
captured the significance of it in all my study. It is a fascinating subject but
neglected because it is overwhelming in trying to make such wondrous work of the
Holy Spirit practical, but lets give it a try. I am sure we all feel much like the
Christian who wrote, "When you read Jesus’ words here, where He promises that
from the innermost being of the one who believes in Him will flow rivers of living
water, you have to stop and ask, “To what extent is that true of me? Since I trusted
in Christ as my Savior, has it been my experience that ever-flowing, abundant rivers
of living water have gushed up inside of me and flowed out of me?”
Those questions are both convicting and hope-producing. They are convicting
because none of us, if we’re honest, can say, “Yes, those words nail it! That’s exactly
how to describe my life since becoming a Christian!” Honesty forces me to say,

“Well, there has usually been a trickle of living water, although there have been
some droughts where even it has dried up. Occasionally, there has been a creek of
living water. But ever-flowing, abundant rivers (plural)? It would be a stretch to
describe my Christian life like that!” So Jesus’ words convict me with the
barrenness of my walk with Him.
But Jesus’ words also give me hope. If my life doesn’t match His description here, it
can! So can yours! This is a promise from the Son of God to all who will come to
Him and drink: Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water. It
describes, as Calvin points out (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], pp. 308-309), an
ideal that none of us can possess perfectly in the present life because of indwelling
sin and because of differing measures of faith. But it’s an ideal in which we can
make progress as we walk with the Lord. We really can experience consistent
fullness of joy in Him that flows from us to others. And so we should have hope
because He who began the good work of salvation in us will perfect it until the day
of Christ Jesus
BARNES, "Rivers - This word is used to express abundance, or a full supply. It
means here that those who are Christians shall diffuse large, and liberal, and
constant blessings on their fellow-men; or, as Jesus immediately explains it, that they
shall be the instruments by which the Holy Spirit shall be poured down on the
world.
Living water - Fountains, ever-flowing streams. That is, the gospel shall be constant
and life-giving in its blessings. We learn here:
2.that no man can believe on Jesus who does not desire that others should also, and
who will not seek it.
3.that the desire is large and liberal - that the Christian desires the salvation of all
the world.
4.that the faith of the believer is to be connected with the influence of the Holy
Spirit, and in that way Christians are to be like rivers of living water.
GILL, " the grace of the Spirit of God is signified by water, because it is of a
cleansing and purifying nature, as faith and hope are, having to do with the blood of
Christ, which cleanses from all sin; and because it fructifies and causes the saints, as
trees of righteousness, to grow, and bring forth fruit; and especially because it is
cooling to those who are scorched with the heat of a fiery law, and very refreshing to

thirsty souls: and it is called "living" water, because by it dead sinners are
quickened, drooping saints are revived, and comforted; spiritual life in them is
maintained and supported, and it springs up to, and issues in eternal life: and it is
expressed by "rivers" of living water, because of the abundance of it in
regeneration, justification, and pardon; it is grace for grace, abundance of grace
believers receive from Christ; and from him, in whom those large measures of grace
are, they "flow out" again, even "out of his belly": from within him, out of his heart,
the seat of it, by his lips, both in prayer to God, and in conversation with the saints,
to whom he communicates his rich experiences of grace, to their comfort, and the
glory of God:
POOLE. "The flowing of rivers of water, signifieth the plenty of spiritual influences
with which believers shall be supplied; whether joy, knowledge, spiritual gifts, or
graces. If any ask, where the Scripture speaketh this? I answer, in all those promises
we meet with in the Old Testament, about pouring out the Spirit.
CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTMENT, "‘coming to Christ’ is equivalent to ‘believing
on Christ;’ and believing on Him is far in advance of thirsting for spiritual
satisfaction, for a man may thirst and refuse to believe. But the believer cannot end
in satisfying his own thirst; he at once becomes a fount whence others may derive
refreshment. Whether he wills to be a teacher or no, the true Christian cannot fail to
impart the spirit of Christianity to others. Thus we have three stages; [1] thirsting;
[2] coming or believing; [3] being filled and supplying others.
CALVIN, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. The metaphor appears,
no doubt, to be somewhat harsh, when he says that rivers of living water shall flow
out of the belly of believers; but there can be no doubt as to the meaning, that they
who believe shall suffer no want of spiritual blessings. He calls it living water, the
fountain of which never grows dry, nor ceases to flow continually. As to the word
rivers being in the plural number, I interpret it as denoting the diversified graces of
the Spirit, which are necessary for the spiritual life of the soul. In short, the
perpetuity, as well as the abundance, of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, (195)
is here promised to us. Some understand the saying — that waters flow out of the
belly of believers — to mean, that he to whom the Spirit has been given makes a
part to flow to his brethren, as there ought to be mutual communication between us.
But I consider it to be a simpler meaning, that whosoever shall believe in Christ
shall have a fountain of life springing up, as it were, in himself, as Christ said
formerly,

He who shall drink of this water shall never thirst,
(John 4:14;)
for while ordinary drinking quenches thirst only for a short time, Christ says that
by faith we draw the Spirit, that he may become a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life
ELLICOTT, " “If any man thirst let him come unto Me and drink.” That
represented the satisfaction of the individual mind. This teaches the fuller truth that
every one in living communion with Christ becomes himself the centre of spiritual
influence. There is in him a power of life which, when quickened by faith, flows
forth as a river, carrying life and refreshment to others. No spirit grasps a great
truth which satisfies its own yearnings as the waters of the fountain slake physical
thirst, without longing to send it forth to others who are seeking what he himself had
sought. There is in him a river whose waters no barrier can confine. This is the spirit
of the prophet and the evangelist, of the martyr and the missionary. It is the spirit of
every great teacher. It is the link which binds men together and makes the life of
every Christian approach the life of Christ, for he lives not for himself but for the
world.
Luther: "He that cometh to Me shall be so furnished with the Holy Ghost, that he
shall not be merely quickened and refreshed himself, and delivered from his thirst,
but shall be also a strong stone vessel, from which the Holy Ghost in all His gifts
shall flow to others, refreshing and comforting and strengthening them, even as he
was refreshed by Me.
Isaiah 44:3 states, “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the
dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your
descendants.” BLESSINGS GALORE.
God's Healthy Trees - A healthy tree consists of up to eighty percent moisture. It
draws large quantities of water through its root system or absorbs it from dew and
rain. In his book "As a Tree Grows", W. Phillip Keller says, "the tree does not
hoard this moisture for itself. The vast network of running roots beneath the soil
often exceeds the outspread canopy of trunk, branches, and leaves spread to the sky.

And vast quantities of water are lifted through the framework of the tree to be
transpired into the surrounding air. This moisture, along with the discharge of
oxygen, is what gives the forest atmosphere such a fresh fragrance." Christians use
the water of life in much the same way. In John 7:38, Jesus said that rivers of living
water will flow from the heart of the one who believes in Him. He was referring to
the ministry of the Holy Spirit in and through us. The Spirit, who we receive when
we trust the Lord Jesus as our Savior, empowers and refreshes us, which enables us
to help others. Our part is to read and study God's Word, to receive cleansing and
renewal through confession, and to obey the Lord. Then, as we depend on the Holy
Spirit, "living water" flows through us and provides refreshment and goodness to
people around us. —D C Egner (Our Daily Bread)
Just as water satisfies thirst and produces fruitfulness, so the Spirit of God satisfies
the inner person and enables us to bear fruit.
RAY PRITCHARD, "The moment we believe in Jesus, the Holy Spirit opens the
springs of life and a river of living water begins to flow from within us. But God
never gives his blessings simply to be hoarded. He gives his blessings to us so that we
can share them with others. Here is a simple sentence to help you think about this
truth: The Holy Spirit brings God to us so we can bring God to others. The river
flows from us to others. A genuine believer in Christ is not self-centered. He says to
himself, “I have been greatly blessed. I must pass these blessings along to others. I
can’t keep them for myself.” What God gives me, I give away. If it’s money, it’s not
mine anyway. If it’s my time, it all belongs to God anyway. If it’s something I own, I
can give it away because I don’t own anything; God owns it all. If it’s a helping
hand, I can do that because God reached down and helped me. Behind this principle
is the truth I call the Greater Golden Rule: “Do unto others as God has done unto
you.” Has God blessed you? Then bless others. Has God been kind to you? Then be
kind to others. Has God shown grace to you? Then show grace to others. Has God
forgiven you? Then forgive others. Be a river of living water for some thirsty soul
this week.
It only takes a spark to get a fire going,
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;
That’s how it is with God’s love,
Once you’ve experienced it,

You spread his love to everyone
You want to pass it on.
I’ll shout it from the mountain top—PRAISE GOD!
I want the world to know
The Lord of love has come to me
I want to pass it on.
It must ever be remembered that these rivers of living water must overflow in
testimony and service. There is no reference to the blessing of the Spirit in the Bible
that is not connected with its practical outflowing for the good of others. So long as
this blessing is sought as an end in itself, it never can be obtained, because the
purpose of it is to give power for service. It is not a true fountain that keeps its
waters within itself and does not overflow. The primary purpose of His infilling is
neither to make us holy nor happy, although it does both, but to empower us to
testify and serve. If it does not issue in love for souls and testimony and faithful
labour for the Lord, it is a false blessing. "Ye shall receive power, when the Holy
Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8, R.V.).
Dead-Sea Christians - The Dead Sea is so salty that it contains no fish or plant life.
What accounts for this unusual condition? There are absolutely no outlets! A great
volume of water pours into this area, but nothing flows out. Many inlets plus no
outlets equals a dead sea.
This law of nature may also be applied to the child of God, and it explains why
many believers are so unfruitful and lacking in spiritual vitality. It’s possible for
some people to attend Bible conferences, listen to religious broadcasts, study the
Scriptures, and continually take in the Word as it is preached from the pulpit, and
yet seem lifeless and unproductive in their Christian lives. Such individuals are like
the Dead Sea. They have several “inlets” but no “outlets.” To be vibrant and useful
believers, we must not only “take in” all we can, but we must also “give out” in
service to others!
May the Lord make us refreshing fountains where thirsty souls may drink. Indwelt
by the Holy Spirit, we possess the “water of life” and can be channels of blessing to

those in need. From hearts of love, let us pour out to others what we have first
received from God. If we do, we will never become Dead-Sea Christians.-- Richard
De Haan (Our Daily Bread)
it brought to mind the popular saying, “Go with the flow.” To some people that
means behaving as most other people do without trying to swim against the current
of the culture. To others it speaks of being more accepting of circumstances without
trying to control everything that happens. But for followers of the Lord, there’s
another dimension of going with the flow. Jesus said: “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” (John 7:37-38). Christ spoke of the Holy
Spirit, Who would make His home in every believer. In a very real sense, when we
invite Christ into our lives, the Flow finds us and we find the Flow. From then on,
we are recipients and conduits of living water—the eternal source of thirst-
quenching satisfaction for our souls. The indwelling Holy Spirit carries us along by
a power and purpose greater than ourselves. As channels of God’s living water, we
are free to go with His flow. - David C. McCasland (Our Daily Bread) (Bolding
added)
Father, thank You for Your Spirit,
Fill us with His love and power;
Change us into Christ’s own image
Day by day and hour by hour.
—Anon.
What Jesus accomplished for us,
the Holy Spirit works out in us.
poet named Tersteegen, who once wrote:
He told me of a River bright
That flows from Him to me;
That I might be for His delight
A fair and fruitful tree.

Professionally trained rescuers say that when people fall into the river, the mistake
they make is thinking that the current will pull them under. They say that people
try to swim against the current out of fear and ignorance. No one, not even a
trained rescuer, is any match for that current. This is how people drown. But they
say the best thing is to let yourself flow with the current and even swim downstream,
diagonally across the river to the other side. If the current pulls you under, just be
patient and you will pop back up to the surface again.
Overflowing Rivers - We are saved to tell others! When the Lord redeems us, He so
fills us with "living water" that, if we are normal Christians, we overflow to others
in a witness that produces results for God. There recently came to my attention the
true story of an amputee soul winner in Melbourne, Australia, who has a most
remarkable ministry. A pastor who visited this crippled woman writes,
When this girl was 18, she was seized with a dreadful affliction and the doctor said
that to save her life he must take off her foot. Next the other foot was removed. The
disease continued to spread, and her legs had to be amputated at the hips. Then the
malady broke out in her hands. And by the time I saw Miss Higgins, all that
remained of her was just the trunk of her body. For 15 years now she has been in
this condition. I went to offer comfort, but I did not know how to speak to her or
what to say. I found the walls of her room covered with texts, all of them radiating
joy, and peace, and power. She explained that one day while lying in bed she
inquired of the Lord what a total amputee could possibly do for Him. Then an
inspiration came to her. Calling a friend of hers, who was a carpenter, she had him
construct a device to fit her shoulder, and attach to it an extension holding a
fountain pen. Then she began to write letters witnessing to the grace of God. She
had to do it entirely with body movement, yet her penmanship was beautiful. She
has now received over 1500 replies from individuals who have been brought to
Christ through the letters she produced in that way." The preacher said to her;
"How do you do it?" and she smilingly replied, "You know Jesus said of His own
that out of them `shall flow rivers of living water.' I believe in Him, and He has
helped me to overflow to others."
Does not that amputee soul winner put all of us to shame? Have you tried to bring
even one lost sheep into the Savior's fold? If not, why not? (Our Daily Bread)
We are not storerooms, but channels,

We are not cisterns, but springs;
Passing our benefits onward,
Fitting our blessings with wings.
—Anon.
Is your life a channel of blessing?
Is the love of God flowing through you?
Are you telling the lost of the Savior?
Are you ready His service to do?
Refrain:
Make me a channel of blessing today,
Make me a channel of blessing, I pray;
My life possessing, my service blessing,
Make me a channel of blessing today.
Out in the highways and byways ,
many are weary and sad;
I want to bring some sunshine
to make the down hearted glad
Some loss soul is dying
Some one in despair
I want to let them know that there’s some one who cares
Chorus:
Make me a blessing,

Make me a blessing,
Out of my life
out of my life
May Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, to some one today
SPURGEON, "this is the figure before us: rivers of living water flowing out of the
living man in all directions. “Ah,” say you, “I have not reached to that.” A point is
gained when you know, confess, and deplore your failure. If you say, “I have all
things and abound,” I am afraid you will never reach the fulness of the blessing; but
if you know something of your failure, the Lord will lead you further. It may be that
the spirit of life which comes forth of you is but a trickling brook, or even a few tiny
drops; then be sure to confess it, and you will be on the way to a fuller blessing.
What a word is this! Rivers of living water!! Oh that all professing Christians were
such fountains. See how spontaneous it is: “Out of the midst of him shall flow.” No
pumping is required; nothing is said about machinery and hydraulics; the man does
not need exciting and stirring up, but, just as he is, influence of the best kind quietly
flows out from him. Did you ever hear a great hubbub in the morning, a great
outcry, a sounding of trumpets and drums, and did you ever ask, “What is it?” Did
a voice reply, “The sun is about to rise, and he is making this noise that all may be
aware of it”? No, it shines, but it has nothing to say about it; even so the genuine
Christian just goes about flooding the world with blessing, and so far from claiming
attention for himself, it may be that he himself is unconscious of what he is effecting.
God so blesses him that his leaf does not wither, and whatever he does he prospers,
for he is like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in due
season: his verdure and fruit are the natural outcome of his vigorous life. Oh, the
blessed spontaneity of the work of grace when a man gets into the fulness of it, for
then he seems to eat and drink and sleep eternal life, and he spreads a savor of
salvation all round. And this is to be perpetual,—not like intermittent springs which
burst forth and flow in torrents, and then cease,—but it is to be an every day out
gushing. In summer and winter, by day and by night, wherever the man is, he shall
be a blessing. As he breathes, he shall breathe benedictions; as he thinks, his mind
shall be devising generous things; and when he acts, his acts shall be as though the
hand of God were working by the hand of man.
I hope I hear many sighs rising up in the place! I hope I hear friends saying, “Oh
that I could get to that.” I want you to attain the fulness of the favor. I pray that we
may all get it; for because Jesus Christ is glorified therefore the Holy Spirit is given
in this fashion, given more largely to those in the kingdom of heaven than to all

those holy men before the Lord’s ascent to his glory. God gives no stinted blessing to
celebrate the triumph of his Son: God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him. On
such an occasion heaven’s grandest liberality was displayed. Christ is glorified in
heaven above, and God would have him glorified in the church below by
vouchsafing a baptism of the Holy Ghost to each of us.
Let us not be satisfied with the sip that saves, but let us go on to the baptism which
buries the flesh and raises us in the likeness of the risen Lord. Let us seek that
baptism into the Holy Spirit and into fire which makes us spiritual and sets us all on
flame with zeal for the glory of God and eagerness for usefulness by which that
glory may be increased among the sons of men.
To be a channel of blessing,
Let Christ's love flow through you.
Give as 'twas given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
Unto your mission be true.
—Wilson
The Purpose of the Spirit
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and
of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in
love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Eph 4:11-
15)
Paul said so. He said that the gifts are given, "for the perfecting – maturing – of the
saints." He said all of this was so that we would come, "unto the measure of the

stature of the FULLNESS of Christ." THAT is the purpose of the Holy Spirit
As a believer begins to be built up in Christ – the negative side of which is the
tearing down of our flesh – that believer will, as it were, burst forth. There will be a
flowing forth of the Spirit, as rivers of living water. Or, to put it another way, the
Christ who is in us as a WELL, will then flow through us as a RIVER.
Why has He called the grace of the Spirit by the name of water? Because by water
all things subsist; because of water are herbs and animals created; because the
water of the showers comes down from heaven; because it comes down one in form,
yet manifold in its working. For one fountain watered the whole of the garden
(Genesis 2:10), and one and the same rain comes down upon all the world; yet it
becomes white in the lily, and red in the rose, and purple in the violets and pansies,
and different and varied in each several kind; so it is one in the palm tree, and
another in the vine, and all in all things; being the while one in nature, not diverse
from itself; for the rain does not change, when it comes down, first as one thing, then
as another, but adapting itself to the nature of each thing, which receives it, it
becomes to each what is suitable. Thus also the Holy Ghost being One, and of one
Nature, and undivided, divides to each His grace "according as He will," and in the
name of Christ works many excellencies. For He employs the tongue of one man for
wisdom; the soul of another He enlightens by prophecy; to another He gives power
to drive away devils; to another He gives power to interpret the Divine Scriptures.
He invigorates one man's self-command; He teaches another the way to give alms;
another He teaches to fast and exercise himself; another He teaches to despise the
things of the body; another He trains for martyrdom: diverse in different men, yet
not diverse from Himself (John 4:14; John 5:4; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
( S. Cyril.)

WE ARE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WATER FLOWS FROM
THE TEMPLE TO BLESS OTHERS.
Rivers of living water
1
Rivers of living water,
Rivers that flow from the throne,
Rivers o’erflowing with blessing,
Coming from Jesus alone.
Rivers of living water,
Rivers of life so free,
Flowing from Thee, my Savior,
Send now the rivers through me.
2
Whoso is thirsty come hither,
Here is abundant supply;
Water transparent as crystal,
Come without money and buy.
3
Cleanse me, oh, cleanse me, my Savior,
Make me a channel today;
Empty me, fill me and use me,
Teach me to trust and obey.
4

Then, and then only, Lord Jesus,
Through me the rivers can flow;
Thus and thus only will others
Learn Thy great fulness to know.
FIRST LETS GET A GIST OF THE SITUATION.
To summarize, the Feast of Booths was a time of thanksgiving for the harvest. It was
a happy time. Devout Jews lived outdoors in booths made of tree branches for seven
days as a reminder of God’s provision in the desert during the wilderness
wanderings. Each morning there was a solemn procession from the temple mount to
the pool of Siloam for a pitcher of water. A priest would fill a gold pitcher with water
as the people sang together from Isaiah 12:3 (See Commentary) The procession
would return to the Temple Mount with trumpets blasting and great fanfare; there
the priest would pour the water into a silver basin by the altar of burnt offering each
day for the first seven days…
Isaiah 12:3 New International Version (NIV)
With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.
Recall that one reason for the Feast was to celebrate God's good provision of "living
water" during their 40 years of "wilderness wanderings." It is notable that the OT
descriptions of the "wilderness wanderings" state very clearly there was "NO
WATER." (Read Ex 15:22, 17:1, Nu 20:2, 21:5, 33:14, Dt 8:15). No water in the
wilderness meant certain physical death in only a few days. God saw their physical
need and provided for their physical need, "painting" a beautiful picture of His
desire and ability to provide for their (and every man's) spiritual need that they
might not remain spiritually dead throughout eternity! Moses summarized the dry,
desert times of Israel's wandering, writing "He (Jehovah) led you through the great
and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground

where there was no water; He brought water for you (supernaturally) out of the
rock of flint." (Dt 8:15). And so the Jews who were celebrating the Feast in John 7
would have (should have) been very familiar with God's provision of life giving
physical "living (springing up, gushing forth, running, flowing) water" in the Old
Testament. As they celebrated the rituals associated with the Feast for seven days,
the Jews were in a sense re-enacting the picture of God's OT provision as they would
dip living (running) water from a pool (which came from a spring) and joyously
transport it back up the hill, through the Water Gate and to the Temple priests who
poured it out on the altar. Onto this scene came Jesus, crying out to dry, parched,
thirsty souls living in the "wilderness of this world," and with NO WATER that
gives life to one's soul. Instead they had forsaken the fountain of living water and
constructed their own cisterns and systems of Law keeping, of doing "good" works,
etc. And yet these religious activities failed to satisfy the spiritual "thirst" God had
placed in each of them. Into this "spiritually dry desert", Jesus came and stood and
cried out offering them a drink from Himself (the same One from Whom their
ancestors had drunk physical water! 1Cor 10:4!). He offered them living water that
they might live spiritually, even as their ancestors were enabled to live physically in
the OT after receiving the physical water
The Incident
A. Edersheim, D. D.
John 7:37-52
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man
thirst, let him come to me, and drink.…
While the morning sacrifice was being prepared, a priest, accompanied by a joyous
procession with music, went down to the pool of Siloam, whence he drew water into
a golden pitcher capable of holding three log (rather more than two pints). But on
the Sabbath they fetched the water from a golden vessel in the Temple itself, into
which it had been carried from Siloam on the preceding day. At the same time that
the procession started for Siloam, another went to a place in the Kedron valley, close
by, called Motza, whence they brought willow branches, which, amid the blasts of
the priests' trumpets, they stuck on either side of the altar of burnt offering, bending

them over toward it so as to form a kind of leafy canopy. Then the ordinary sacrifice
proceeded, the priest who had gone to Siloam so timing it that he returned just as
his brethren carried up the pieces of the sacrifice to lay them on the altar. As he
entered by the "water-gate," which obtained its name from this ceremony, he was
received by a threefold blast from the priests' trumpets. The priests then went up
the rise of the altar and turned to the left, where there were two silver basins with
narrow holes — the eastern, a little wider, for the wine; and the western, a little
narrower, for the water. Into these the wine of the drink offering was poured, and at
the same time the water from Siloam, the people shouting to the priest, "Raise thy
hand," to show that he really poured the water into the basin which led to the base
of the altar .... As soon as the wine and water were poured out, the Temple music
began, and the Hallel (Psalm 113.-118.) was sung... Salvation in connection with the
Son of David was symbolized by the pouring out of water Thus the Talmud says
distinctly, "Why is the name of it called the drawing out of water? Because of the
pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: ' With joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation.'"... We can now in some measure realize the
event. The festivities of the week of tabernacles were drawing to a close. "It was the
last day, that great day of the feast."... It was on that day after the priest had
returned from Siloam with his golden pitcher, and for the last time poured its
contents to the base of the altar; after the Hallel had been sung to the sound of the
flute, the people shouting and worshipping as the priests three times drew the
threefold blasts from their silver trumpets — just when the interest of the people
had been raised to its highest pitch, that from the mass of the worshippers, who
were waving towards the altar quite a forest of leafy branches as the last words of
Psalm 118, were chanted — a voice was raised which resounded through the Temple,
startled the multitude, and carried fear and hatred to the hearts of their leaders. It
was Jesus who "stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me,
and drink." Then by faith in Him should each one truly become like the pool of
Siloam, and from his inmost being "rivers of water flow." "This spake He of the
Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive." Thus the significance of the
rite, in which they had just taken part, was not only fully explained, but the mode of
its fulfilment pointed out.
(A. Edersheim, D. D.)
MACLAREN, "And then, as the priests stood with their empty vases, there was a

little stir in the crowd, and a Man who had been standing watching, lifted up a loud
voice and cried, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.' Strange words
to say, anywhere and anywhen, daring words to say there in the Temple court! For
there and then they could mean nothing less than Christ's laying His hand on that
old miracle, which was pointed to by the rite, when the rock yielded the water, and
asserting that all which it did and typified was repeated, fulfilled, and transcended
in Himself, and that not for a handful of nomads in the wilderness, but for all the
world, in all its generations.
Is there anything in human utterances more majestic and wonderful than this
saying of my text, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me'? There He claims to be
separate altogether from those whose thirst He would satisfy. There He claims to be
able to meet every aspiration, every spiritual want, every true desire in this complex
nature of ours. There He claims to be able to do this for one, and therefore for all.
There He claims to be able to do it for all the generations of mankind, right away
down to the end. Who is He who thus plants Himself in the front of the race, knows
their deep thirsts, takes account of the impotence of anything created to satisfy
them, assumes the divine prerogative, and says, 'I come to satisfy every desire in
every soul, to the end of time'? Yes, and from that day when He stood in the Temple
and cried these words, down to this day, there have been, and there are, millions
who can say, 'We have drawn water from this fountain of salvation, and it has never
failed us.' Christ's audacious presentation of Himself to the world as adequate to fill
all its needs, and slake all its thirst, has been verified by nineteen centuries of
experience, and there are many men and women all over the world to-day who
would be ready to set to their seals that Christ is true, and that He, indeed, is all-
sufficient for the soul.
"The frail vessel thou hast made,
No hands but thine can fill;
For the waters of this world have failed,
And I am thirsty still."
LIGHTFOOT, "Let these words, then, of our Saviour be set in opposition to this

right and usage in the feast of Tabernacles of which we have been speaking: "Have
you such wonderful rejoicing at drawing a little water from Siloam? He that believes
in me, whole rivers of living waters shall flow out of his own belly. Do you think the
waters mentioned in the prophets do signify the law? They do indeed denote the
Holy Spirit, which the Messiah will dispense to those that believe in him: and do you
expect the Holy Spirit from the law, or from your rejoicing in the law? The Holy
Spirit is of faith, and not of the law," Galatians 3:2.
READ I COR. 10:1-4 Jesus was alive and well in his pre-incarnate state and was
the source of the water of life in the Old Testament.
THE jews are celebrating the water that came from the rock and that Rock is now
offering them the even greater water, the living water of eternal life. The old water
saved them from dying for a time, but this water saves them for ever.
NUMBERS 20:1-12 WATER FROM THE ROCK.
ROCK WAS CHRIST.” (1Cor 10:4) Fanny Crosby pictured this NT fulfillment
writing "Though my weary steps may falter, And my soul a-thirst may be, Gushing
from the ROCK before me, Lo! A Spring of joy I see." Amen!
Matthew 16:18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock 2 I will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The only real thirst quencher of our parched soul is Jesus in both testaments
The Giver of living water.
spurgeon put it-
Commenting on Ps 63:1, Spurgeon adds that "Thirst is an insatiable longing after
that which is one of the most essential supports of life. There is no reasoning with it,
no forgetting it, no despising it, no overcoming it by stoical indifference. Thirst will
be heard; the whole man must yield to its power; even thus is it with that divine
desire which the grace of God creates in regenerate men; only (Jesus) Himself can
satisfy the craving of a soul really aroused by the Holy Spirit."
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" (Jn 7:37). That short statement
contains the essence of the Gospel message. It is centered in a Person-Jesus Christ. It
is offered to all without restriction-If anyone. It is predicated upon human need-If
anyone is thirsty. It demands a personal response-Let Him come to me. It invites
personal participation-and drink.

If we are dying in the desert, the most important thing in the world is a cup of cold
water. Jesus promises more than a cup. He promises a never ending flow of clear,
cool, clean living water. Streams without pollution. Rivers that will never run dry.
The Holy Spirit brings the life of God to the thirsty soul.
And even in some of the last words in the Bible, God seeks those who are thirsty, as
John records in the Revelation of Jesus Christ…
And He (Glorified Christ) said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts (present tense = literally
"he who is continually thirsting") from the spring of the water of life (cp "living
water") without cost. (Rev 21:6-note)
And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come." (present imperative) And let the one who
hears say (aorist active imperative), "Come (present imperative)." And let the one
who is thirsty come; (present imperative - notice three commands to come!) let the
one who wishes take the water of life ("living water") without cost (dorean). (Rev
22:17-note)
John Phillips comments - How strange is the insanity that keeps men from flinging
themselves on their faces before God and drinking deep of the water of life. The rich
man in hell wanted just a single drop to ease the torment of his thirst (Lk 16:24 The
rich man in hades "cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and
send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my
tongue, for I am in agony in this flame."). When he was alive, he might have come
and received eternal access to the river of life. But he never came. Now for all
eternity he must be tormented, with his cravings and longings forever unquenched.
All who drink of this water may joyfully sing "I've got a river of life flowin'
out of me. Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see. Opens prison doors, sets the
captives free. I've got a river of life flowin' out of me. Spring up Oh Well. Within my
soul. Spring up Oh Well And make me whole. Spring up Oh Well And give to me
That life abundantly." (P. Wickham)
1. An artist once painted a famous picture for an altar-piece, and called it the

Fountain of Life. It represents the Sacrificed Redeemer stretched in His mother's
arms. From the rock beneath their feet flow the abundant waters of salvation, which
are received into a great cistern. Saints, martyrs, apostles, evangelists, are drinking
of the water, or filling their vases and handing them to each other. From the cistern
flows a stream into a lower place, where a family of poor, humble people are
drinking with grateful looks. Then the stream flows away among meadows, where
the little children can reach it, and they are taking up the precious water in their
tiny hands, and drinking it with smiling lips. We can all see the meaning of that
picture, which tells us that the salvation of Jesus is for all who will accept it, high
and low, young and old, rich and poor.
(H. J. W. Buxton.)
I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY
“Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one
Stoop down and drink and live.”
I came to Jesus and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.
Quenching the Eternal Thirst - Many years ago, a crew of Peruvian sailors were
heading up the Amazon River when they happened upon an unusual sight. A
Spanish ship was anchored off the coast and all the sailors were stretched out
weakly on the deck of the ship. As the Peruvians drew closer, they saw that the
Spaniards were in terrible physical condition. They looked as if they were one step
away from death, their lips parched and swollen. Here, in this ship, these Spanish
sailors were literally dying of thirst. "Can we help you," shouted the Peruvians? The
Spaniards cried out, "Water! Water! We need fresh water!" The Peruvian sailors,
surprised at this request, told them to lower their buckets and help themselves. The
Spaniards, fearing they'd been misunderstood cried back, "No, no we need FRESH
water!" Again the Peruvians told the Spanish sailors to lower their buckets. Finally,
the sailors did as the Peruvian sailors commanded and when their buckets were

brought up to the surface, they discovered fresh water. Little did they know that
they were at the mouth of the fresh-water Amazon River. All they had to do was take
a drink and their thirst would be quenched. Jesus Christ offers Living Water to
quench man's spiritual thirst. Man doesn't have to do anything but drink this
Water. Sadly, many will die thirsty, because they do not know about Jesus Christ,
the Living Water. It is our job to tell them. (James Scudder - Living Water)
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether
Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
John 4:14 14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the
water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Isaiah 44:3-4 3For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry
ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your
descendants. 4They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by
flowing streams.
Ezekiel 39:29 29I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my
Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."
Jeremiah 2:13 13"My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the
spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot
hold water.
Think about water and what it means to you. Water is essential to life—we die
without it. The average person can go about 60 days without food before he starves
to death, but one can go only about three days without water, because it is so vital.
In fact, the human body is mostly water. Whenever someone forsakes God, the
spring of living water, he has no choice but to do what Jeremiah 2:13 says, to hew
out his own broken cistern, which is always one that simply “won’t hold water.” We
see that just as actual water gives life physically and is integral to one’s physical life,
so spiritual water (the gift of holy spirit) gives life spiritually.
To say Jesus cannot give living water is a theory that will not hold water. It will not
stand up to examination. He is the only one who ever promised the water of life that
become eternal.
the one thing common with the OT and NT is the Holy Spirit being poured out like
water to meet the needs of His people.

Isaiah 44:3
'For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will
pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;
Ezekiel 36:25
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
Isaiah 58:11
"And the LORD will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched
places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And
like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
Revelation 22:17
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come " And let the one who hears say, "Come " And
let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without
cost.
Psalm 46:4
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places
of the Most High.
Isaiah 41:17-18
"The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is
parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I
will not forsake them. "I will open rivers on the bare heights And springs in the
midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land
fountains of water.
Water as such is a picture of the word of God, but living water speaks of the word
being made alive and applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit (John 4:10; 7:37–39).
‘Running water’ in Numbers 19:17 has the same typical meaning. The Holy Spirit
applies the word to our hearts.
In each case, the Holy Spirit is described symbolically as the means by which God
pours out His blessing to revive and refresh Christians, much as rain is the means
by which the earth is refreshed. These revival names should not be taken as denials
of the personality of the Holy Spirit, but rather as descriptions that picture His

influence in refreshing people who are spiritually thirsty, wilted or dying.
Acts 2:33
“Exalted to the right hand of God, he [Jesus] has received from the Father the
promised Holy Spirit [holy spirit] and has poured out [like water] what you now see
and hear.”
Paul told them (1 Cor. 12:13), “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of
one Spirit.”
In the book of Acts Luke has four descriptions of the Spirit being poured out…
AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR
FORTH OF MY SPIRIT UPON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR
DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE
VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS;18 EVEN UPON
MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR
FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18)
"Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from
the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both
see and hear. (Acts 2:33, cp Lk 24:49)
And all the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed, because
the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Gentiles also. (Acts 10:45)
C. The condition of the promise: you must be thirsty.
Jesus cries, “If anyone is thirsty….” You have to be thirsty for God. The Bible often
uses that kind of language (as we just saw in Rev. 22:17). Isaiah 55:1 proclaims,
“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come,
buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” The
psalmist cries out (Ps. 42:1), “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul
pants for You, O God.” David cries (Ps. 63:1), “O God, You are my God; I shall seek
You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary

land where there is no water.” And in Revelation 21:6b, Jesus says, “I will give to the
one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.”
At first glance, being thirsty for God seems easy enough. But the problem is, because
of sin people either don’t recognize their thirst or they seek to satisfy it in wrong
ways. John Piper’s dad, who was an evangelist, told him that the most difficult thing
was not getting people saved, but getting them lost. In other words, people don’t
sense their desperate need for Christ. They don’t feel thirsty for Him. Instead, they
try to quench their thirst with many wrong things. They think that success, money,
fame, sexual pleasure, or other things will satisfy the inner thirst. But thirsting for
things other than God and His glory is the root of all sin. J. C. Ryle observed
(Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:40):
Fill My Cup, Lord
1
Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
For things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking-
"Draw from My well that never shall run dry."
Chorus:
Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
2

There are millions in this world who are seeking
For pleasures earthly goods afford.
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.
3
So my brother if the things this world gives you
Leave hunger that won't pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray.
Chorus:
Fill my cup, Lord;
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.
1. Three Things Implied in Thirsting
Verse 37: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” It seems to me that
there are three wonderful things implied in the words “if anyone thirsts.”
First is that the gift of the water is free. The condition you must meet is need. “If
anyone thirst.” That’s the condition. And the action you must take is to drink.
Receive the gift. There is no thought here of earning or meriting. Anyone. Anyone
who knows his own thirst is invited.

Second, the human soul has thirst. We know he is not talking about physical thirst.
That’s clear. But what he is saying is that the soul has something like physical thirst.
When you go without water your body gets thirsty. And the soul, when it goes
without God, gets thirsty. Your body was made to live on water. Your soul was made
to live on God.
This is the most important thing to know about yourself. You were made to live on
God. You have a soul, a spirit. There is a you that is more than a body. And that you,
if it does not drink from the greatness and wisdom and power and goodness and
justice and holiness and love of God, will die of thirst.
Third, implied in the word “thirst” is that what Jesus offers is satisfying. The aim of
all theology, all study, all biblical learning, all preaching is to spread the satisfying
banquet for you to eat with joy, and to protect the kitchen from poison. The aim of
cooking is eating. The aim of digging wells and clearing springs is drinking.
Everything Jesus came to do and teach is aimed at providing the soul with food and
drink that satisfy forever.
That’s what I see in the word “thirst.” The water is free. The soul has a thirst. And
Jesus aims to satisfy the soul forever.
"It means that when you come to Jesus to drink, you don’t just get a single drink,
but you get spring, a fountain, a well. You get Jesus. Rivers of water will flow
because a River-Maker is in you. That’s the point. You will never have to search
again for a source of satisfaction for your soul. Every river that needs to flow for the
joy of your soul will flow from Jesus. When you come to him, you get him. And he
never leaves."
Isaiah 58:11: “You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose
waters do not fail.”
The one that comes to mind first is John Peterson's "Springs of Living Water"
1.
I thirsted in the barren land of sin and shame
And nothing satisfying there I found
But to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came
Where springs of living water did abound

Chorus:
Drinking at the springs of living water
Happy now am I, my soul is satisfied
Drinking at the springs of living water
O wonderful and bountiful supply
2.
How sweet the living water from the hills of God
It makes me glad and happy all the way
Now glory, grace and blessing mark the path I've trod
I'm shouting "Hallelujah" every day
Chorus
3.
O sinner, won't you come today to Calvary
A fountain there is flowing deep and wide
The Saviour now invites you to the water free
Where thirsting spirits can be satisfied

As Christians we all did drink, and now have the Holy Spirit in us as His temple
from which the rivers are to be flowing.
But maybe you’re wondering, “If the Holy Spirit is living in me, then why don’t I
experience the rivers of living water inside of me and flowing from me? Why is my
life more accurately described as a trickle of water, not rivers?” Other Scriptures
teach that …
2. We must learn to walk in the Holy Spirit to experience His fullness.
He does not control us automatically. In Galatians 5:16, Paul writes, “But I say,
walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” He goes on to
list some of the deeds of the flesh and the contrasting fruit of the Spirit. Then he
repeats (5:25), “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” That is, if the
Holy Spirit gave us new life, then we need to rely on the Spirit step by step, day by
day.
Walking is something we have to learn how to do as children. At first, we fall a lot.
But after a while, we hardly think about it, unless we’re on a slippery surface.
Walking is not spectacular. Paul doesn’t say, “Leap by the Spirit or fly by the
Spirit.” It’s a slow, step by step process that will gradually get you where you’re
going if you keep at it. To walk by the Spirit means that each day in every situation
you yield yourself to Him, relying on Him to work in and through you. If during the
day the flesh rears its ugly head with impure thoughts, selfishness, anger, or
whatever, you immediately confess it to the Lord, turn from it, and ask the Holy
Spirit to control your thoughts, words, and actions again. As you learn to walk this
way consistently, slowly the fruit of the Spirit will grow in your life: love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).
But, why does the Lord give us the Holy Spirit, portrayed here as “rivers of living
water” flowing from our innermost being?
3. Jesus Christ blesses all who believe in Him with rivers of living water so that we
will be satisfied in Him and so that we become a source of blessing to others
steven cole
The rivers flow out of us to others who are thirsty. The world is a barren desert, and
people are dying of thirst. You and I are to be the rivers of living water that these
dying people need. As they see Christ in us (the fruit of the Spirit) and want what we
have, we can tell them how they can come to Jesus and drink. Lost people
desperately need what only we who have believed can give them.

But the rivers should also flow from us to other believers, especially to those who
may be going through a dry spell. Even Paul and Titus were refreshed by other
believers (1 Cor. 16:18; 2 Cor. 7:13). As you’re filled with the Spirit and satisfied in
Christ, you can overflow to those around you, beginning in your home. Love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control should
be flowing daily from husbands to wives and from wives to husbands, from parents
to children and from children to parents. These qualities should be flowing between
us in the church, even if you find a fellow believer difficult to be around.
If you only come to church to get something for yourself, you’ll be like the Dead Sea.
It’s so salty that nothing can live in it because it has rivers flowing into it, but
nothing flows out of it. When you come to church, come with the prayer, “Lord, fill
me with your Spirit and flow out of me toward those who may be thirsty.” As you
allow the rivers to flow out of you to others, you’ll discover that you’re actually
more filled than before you gave out! That’s the key to preventing burnout: Be
satisfied in Christ and let His fullness flow through you to others.
I’ve got a river of life flowing within me;
It makes the lame to walk and the blind to see.
It opens prison doors, sets the captives free.
I’ve got a river of life flowing within me.
Spring up, O well, within my spirit!
Rise up and tell, so all can hear it!
Spring up, O well, so I experience
That life abundantly.
2
I’ve got a river of life flowing within me;
It started gushing up when God set me free.
That I keep the flow is my only plea.

I’ve got a river of life springing within me.
3
Once I call His name there’s a flow within;
It turns me from my day, makes Him Lord again.
As my spirit burns, Satan cannot win.
Calling, “Oh Lord Jesus,” keeps the flow within.
JESUS IS THE THIRST QUENCHER
WE DON'T DRINK ENOUGH WATER
a car is worthless without gas, and we are also without water and so we need to be
regularly filled with the Spirit just as our car needs to be filled with gas to move
forward and fulfill its purpose.
water
David's Blog
The Holy Spirit is not only represented by refreshing rivers of living water; He is
also represented by rain (side note: this is also why the cloud is a symbol of the Holy
Spirit; the cloud brings the rain).
The prophet Joel prophesied the coming of rain. He was referring to natural rain,
but he went on to prophesy that God would “pour out” His Spirit. The mentioning
of the Spirit and rain together creates this clear symbolic parallel—the Holy Spirit is
the rain of Heaven.
Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath
given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the
rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.... And it shall come to
pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your

daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall
see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I
pour out My spirit (Joel 2:23,28-29 KJV).
Water cleanses, quenches, refreshes, and gives life. The Holy Spirit cleanses your
soul, quenches your spiritual thirst, and refreshes your being.
Wherever the rivers and rain of the Holy Spirit touch, there is life.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But
those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh,
bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Water represents the Holy Spirit’s ability to refresh us, quench our spiritual thirst,
cleanse us, and bring forth life wherever He flows. He is the rain of Heaven, and He
is the living river that flows from within. Water can be symbolic for the Holy Spirit.
WATER (John 4:14, 7:38-39)
Water also typifies more than one thing in Scripture; in its various forms it has
different meanings. In Gen.7, the waters of the flood speak of God’s judgment on
men, irresistible in its effect and all-inclusive in its scope, overwhelming and
destroying. The Lord spoke of His death as a baptism (Lk.12:50), and the Psalmist
describes Christ's sufferings as an overwhelming flood (Ps. 69: 2, 14-15).
Still, or quietly flowing waters speak to us of the Word of God and its refreshment to
the soul (Ps. 23:2-3, John 3:5). Waters drawn out in a pitcher to be used for man
suggest that portion of God’s Word that we have appropriated to be of benefit
(Mark 14:13).
5) Water:
Water is one of the most common symbols of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit falls on people LIKE rain, He bubbles up inside, He flows out like a
river – rivers are divers and varied – there are varied flows of the Spirit.

Water comes in so many different forms – mist, clouds, dew, a well, shower, rain,
lakes, rivers, the ocean, floods. Water is used for cleaning, so the Holy Spirit
cleanses. As water in the natural refreshes, quenches the thirst and gives life, so the
Holy Spirit refreshes quenches spiritual thirst and gives life.
Water is absolutely essential to all physical life and God’s influence in our lives is
absolutely essential for life!
Isaiah 44:3
:3 For 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;
The Bible speaks of the Holy Spirit like rain.
He falls like rain. Rain is necessary for the harvest. (Hosea 6:3; Zechariah 10:1;
James 5:7).
The Book of Joel speaks of the dry, barren, lifeless land. It then speaks of God
sending the former and the latter rain (Joel 2:23) transforming the land and
producing a bountiful harvest. This rain is symbolic of the Holy Spirit and the effect
He has upon dry, barren areas.
John 4:14
:14 “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the
water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into
everlasting life.”
Water is at the centre of physical life: so is the Holy Spirit central to the spiritual
life of a believer. He is the One responsible for regeneration. He is cleansing,
refreshing, and life-giving. We need water for every joint and every vital function
of our natural body. So too, we need to walk and live in the Spirit of God every day.
In Jeremiah 2:13, for example, God refers to Himself as a “spring of living water”
The imagery of God's Word also includes the idea of cleansing power. It is likened to
water because water cleanses, as Psalm 119:9 shows: "How can a young man cleanse
his way? By taking heed according to Your word." Jesus adds in John 15:3, "You
are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Paul says in
Ephesians 5:26, ". . . that He might sanctify and cleanse [the church] with the
washing of water by the word."

Jesus says in John 6:63, "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The
words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." This statement clarifies
matters: The water, the Word, and the Holy Spirit must be considered together—as
one element—that precipitate the new birth,
It is more likely that the "water" and "spirit" Jesus refers to are those mentioned in
Ezekiel 36:25-27:
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,
and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Ephesians 5:26 tells us that we are cleansed "with the washing of water by the
word." There are things that will be cleansed—things in our minds, things that deal
with conduct, things that have to do with character and attitude—that are cleansed
by water. The word "water" here is symbolic, referring to the Word of God, as well
as to the Holy Spirit.
Thou Breath from still eternity,
Breathe o'er my spirit's barren land
The pine-tree and the myrtle-tree
Shall spring -amidst the desert sand,
And where Thy living water flows
The waste shall blossom as the rose.
May I in will and deed and word
Obey Thee as a little child;
And keep me in Thy love, my Lord,

For ever holy, undefiled ;
Within me teach and strive and pray,
Lest I should choose my own wild way.
O Spirit, Stream that by the Son
Is open'd to us crystal pure,
Forth-flowing from the heavenly Throne
To waiting hearts and spirits poor,
Athirst and weary do I sink
Beside Thy waters, there to drink.
My spirit turns to Thee and clings,
All else forsaking, unto Thee,
Forgetting all created things,
Remembering only God in me.
O living Stream, O gracious Rain,
None wait for Thee, and wait in vain.
G. TERSTEEGEN.
Jimmy Swaggart – Let Your Living Water Flow Lyrics
Let Your living water flow over my soul,
Let your Holy Spirit come and take control,

Of every situation that has troubled my mind,
All my cares and burdens on to you I roll.
Father, Father, Father.
Give your life to Jesus, let Him fill your soul,
Let Him take you in His arms and make you whole,
As you give your life to Him, He'll set you free,
You will live and reign with Him eternally.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
Come now Holy Spirit and take control,
Hold me in your loving arms and make me whole,
Wipe away all doubt and fear and take my pride,
Draw me to your love and keep me by your side.
Spirit, Spirit, Spirit.
Let your living water flow over my soul
Let your Holy spirit come and take control,
Of every situation that has troubled my mind,
All my cares and burdens onto you I roll.
Father, Jesus, Spirit
I feel your touch, I can feel Your heart

As I'm lying here alone in the dark
I hear your voice gently say, "Come to me?
I long for Your love as the earth longs for the rainfall
I'm weary Lord, I've wondered this desert too long
So come living water flow through me like a river
My heart's been thirsting so long
Flood through my soul and pour out Your mercy
Come living water fill me
Lord so many times You've called my name
And I've turned my face the other way
Yet before I even saw the womb, You love me
How can I be so blind when I alone have created my darkness
Forgive me Lord and wash me clean again
So come living water flow through me like a river
Come living water fill meCome living water flow through me like a river
Read more: Bob Carlisle - Living Water Lyrics

by SingerForGod » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:49 am
'Have you heard the raindrops '
Have you heard the raindrops drumming on the rooftops'?
Have vou heard the raindrops dripping on the ground?
Have you heard the raindrops splashing in the streams
And running to the rivers all around?
There's water, water of life, Jesus gives us the water of life;
There's a busy workman digging in the desert,
Digging with a spade that flashes in the sun:
Soon there will be water rising in the wellshaft,
Spilling from the bucket as it comes.
Nobody can live who hasn't any water,
When the land is dry then nothing much grows;
Jesus gives us life if we drink the living water,
Sing it so that everybody knows.

Decades ago, I visited a ministry center in West Africa and saw a little girl climb
onto a truck that had a public address system. Smiling, she began to sing over the
microphone:
It’s bubbling, it’s bubbling,
it’s bubbling in my soul;
I’m singing and laughing
since Jesus made me whole.
Since Jesus came within,
and cleansed my heart from sin,
It’s bubbling, bubbling, bubbling,
bubbling, bubbling in my soul!
I heard her sing that song only once. But the joy in her voice was so evident and
powerful that I remember the lyrics and tune to this day. The
Henry Clay Trumbull
And one of the promises precious to the children of God is that in heaven they shall
not thirst any more (Rev 7:16). To slake another's thirst but for a moment, is a
bounty acknowledged gratefully by man, and not unnoticed by God. (Mt 10:42,
25:34-35, cp Acts 20:35)… One whose lips have parched with thirst in an army-
prison, or on a sandy march, or while lying wounded on a field of battle, can realize
the preciousness of "a cup of cold water only" as others cannot. After one of the
battles of our Civil War, a member of the government ambulance corps was moving
among the wounded on the field, assisting in their removal. He came to a dying
Southern soldier, too far gone for hope through removal. As he stooped over the
dying man with a kindly word, the parching lips asked for water. The lips were
tenderly moistened. "Thank you! Now please lay my cap over my face, and let me
die." As this service was rendered lovingly, there came another call from the dying
man: " Will you please tell me your name, my friend ?" " Why, of course I will ; but
why do you ask it ?" "Oh, so I can pray God through all eternity to bless you for
giving me that water!" To bring water for his thirst, man has poured out millions
upon millions for costly aqueducts, the very ruins of which are among the world's
wonders. He has bored the artesian well into depths which could never be reached
by cutting. He has tunneled under the lake's bottom, miles beyond the shore, for a

purer supply. He has linked the desert with the river by chains of canals. Yet at the
best, pure water has not always satisfied man's thirst ; so he has searched the world
over for tempting beverages, and has taxed the ingenuity of his fellows for new and
refreshing drinks… The longing for drink has been neither satisfied nor removed.
Men still drink and thirst, and thirst and drink again. Only one person in all the
world, and he that travel-worn pilgrim by the well of Jacob, has ever dared
confidently to say, " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst."… even as fainting travelers have been deluded by the mirage of the
desert into one more vain effort to reach the water which they longed for, even so,
also, thirsting souls have been mocked with the wine of superstition, have famished
at the exhausted cistern of a false religion, or have wasted their latest strength in
pursuing the mirage of some delusive philosophy of first causes and ultimate
destiny. When Philip V, of Spain, first saw in full play the magnificent new fountains
he had erected at La Granja, it is said that an expression of pleasure passed over his
sad face ; then his melancholy look returned, and he said, bitterly : " Thou hast
given me three minutes' distraction from my cares ; and thou hast cost me three
millions." Might not his words be spoken of many a costly fountain erected to
gratify man's spiritual longings? The ruins of such fountains dot the world over.
What else are the crumbling, but still magnificent, temples at Nineveh and Nuffar, at
Memphis and Thebes, at Susa and Persepolis, at Athens and Rome, at Mexico and
Cuzco! Their cost was millions. Their relief to soul-thirst was momentary. " Broken
cisterns" are they all, "that can hold no water." (Jer 2:13)… Myriads have turned,
with thirsty souls, to Jesus;
"I heard the voice of Jesus say,
'Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live ! '
I came to Jesus, and I drank
Of that life-giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him." (Col 3:4, Jn 20:31, 1Jn 4:9, 5:11)
Isaiah 49:10 “They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun
strike them down; For He (Messiah the Good Shepherd) Who has compassion on

them will lead them and will guide them to springs of water.
Jeremiah 31:25 "For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes."
Ps 23:2 He leads me beside quiet waters.
Rev 7:16-17 “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat
down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their
Shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe
every tear from their eyes.”
Rev 21:6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water
of life without cost.
Re 22:1 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from
the throne of God and of the Lamb,
Pr 25:25 Like cold water to a weary soul, So is good news
Warren Wiersbe - Are You Thirsty? Read Psalm 63 King David wrote this psalm
when he was in the wilderness of Judah. I never really appreciated what he wrote
until my wife and I visited the same spot. What a dry and barren place it is! Look at
what David wrote, "O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts
for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water"
(Psalm
Rev 7:16-17 “They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat
down on them, nor any heat;17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their
shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe
every tear from their eyes.”
Rev 21:6 And He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water
Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say,
“Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water
Judges 15:17-19 When he had finished speaking, he threw the jawbone from his
hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi. 18 Then he became very thirsty, and he
called to the LORD and said, “You have given this great deliverance by the hand of

Your servant, and now shall I die of thirst and fall into the hands of the
uncircumcised?” 19 But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi so that water came
out of it. When he drank, his strength returned and he revived. Therefore he named
it En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
Now mark that little, but very significant, phrase "Out of"‚—not into, but "out of."
All the difference in the lives of men lies in the difference between these two
expressions. "Into" is the world's preposition. Every stream turns in; and that
means a dead sea. Many a man's life is simply the coast line of a dead sea. "Out of"
is the Master's word. His thought is of others. The stream must flow in, and must
flow through, if it is to flow out, but it is judged by its direction, and Jesus would
turn it outward. There must be good connections upward, and a clear channel
inward, but the objective point is outward toward a parched earth. But before it can
flow out it must fill up. An outflow in this case means an overflow. There must be a
flooding inside before there can be a flowing out. And let the fact be carefully
marked that it is only the overflow from the fullness within our own lives that brings
refreshing to anyone else. A man praying at a conference in England for the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit said: "Oh Lord, we can't hold much, but we can
overflow lots." That is exactly the Master's thought. "Out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water."
Do you remember that phrase in the third chapter of Joshua—"For Jordan
overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest." When there was a flood in the
river, there was a harvest in the land. Has there been a harvest in your life? A
harvest of the fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering; a harvest of souls?
"No," do you say, "not much of a harvest, I am afraid," or it may be your heart says
"none at all." Is it hard to tell why? Has there been a flood-tide in your heart, a
filling up from above until the blessed stream had to find an outlet somewhere, and
produce a harvest? A harvest outside means a rising of the tide inside. A flooding of
the heart always brings a harvest in the life. A few years ago there were great floods
in the southern states, and the cotton and corn crops following were unprecedented.
Paul reminded his Roman friends that when the Holy Spirit has free swing in the life
"the love of God floods our hearts." (Rom. 5:5)
Please notice, too, the source of the stream—"out of his belly." Will you observe for
a moment the rhetorical figure here? I used to suppose it meant "out of his heart."
The ancients, you remember, thought the heart lay down in the abdominal region.
But you will find that this book is very exact in its use of words. The blood is the life.
The heart pumps, but the stomach makes it. The seat of life is not in the heart, but
in the stomach. If you will take down a book of physiology, and find the chart

showing the circulation of the blood, you will see a wonderful network of lines
spreading out in every direction, but all running, through lighter lines into heavier,
and still blacker, until every line converges in the great stomach artery. And
everywhere the blood goes there is life. Now turn to a book of physical geography
and get a map showing the water system of some great valley like the Mississippi,
and you will find a striking reproduction of the other chart. And if you will shut
your eyes and imagine the reality back of that chart, you will see hundreds of cool,
clear springs flowing successively into runs, brooks, creeks, larger streams, river
branches, rivers, and finally into the great river—the reservoir of all. And
everywhere the waters go there is life. The only difference between these two
streams of life is in the direction. The blood flows from the largest toward the
smallest; the water flows from the smallest toward the largest. Both bring life with
its accompaniments of beauty and vigor and fruitfulness. There is Jesus' picture of
the Christian down in the world. As the red stream flows out from the stomach, and,
propelled by the force-pump of the heart through a marvelous network of minute
rivers, takes life to every part of the body, so "he that believeth on Me"—that is the
vital connecting link with the great origin of this stream of life—out of the very
source of life within him shall go a flood-tide of life, bringing refreshing, and
cleansing, and beauty, and vigor everywhere within the circle of his life, even
though, like the red streams and the water streams, he be unconscious of it. An
Unlikely Channel. What a marvelous conception of the power of life! How strikingly
it describes Jesus' own earthly life. But there is something more marvelous still—He
means that ideal to become real in you, my friend, and in me. I doubt not there are
some here whose eager hearts are hungry for just such a life, but who are
tremblingly conscious of their own weakness. Your thoughts are saying: "I wish I
could live such a life, but certainly this is not for, this man talking doesn't know me
—no special talent or opportunity; such strong tides of temptation that sweep me
clean off my feet—not for me." Ah, my friend, I verily believe you are the very one
the Master had in mind, for He had John put into his gospel a living illustration of
this ideal of His that goes down to the very edge of human unlikeliness and inability.
He goes down to the lowest so as to include all. What proved true in this case may
prove true with you, and much more. The story is in the fourth chapter. It is a sort
of advance page of the Book of Acts. A sample of the power of Pentecost—before the
day of Pentecost. You and I live on the flood-side of Pentecost. This illustration
belongs back where the streams had only just commenced trickling. It is a
miniature. You and I furnish the life-size if we will. It is the story of a woman; not a
man, but a woman. One of the weaker sex, so called. She was ignorant, prejudiced,
and without social standing. She was a woman of no reputation. Aye, worse than
that, of bad reputation. She probably had less moral influence in her town than any
one here has in his circle. Could a more unlikely person have been used? But she
came in touch with the Lord Jesus. She yielded herself to that touch. There lies the

secret of what follows. That contact radically changed her. She went back to her
village and commenced speaking about Jesus to those she knew. She could not
preach; she simply told plainly and earnestly what she knew and believed about
Him. And the result is startling. There are hundreds of ministers who are earnestly
longing for what came so easily to her. What modern people call a revival began at
once. We are told in the simple language of the Gospel record that "many believed
on Him because of the word of the woman." They had not seen Jesus yet. He was up
by the well. They were down in the village. She was an ignorant woman, of formerly
sinful life. But there is the record of the wonderful result of her simple witnessing—
they believed on Jesus because of the word of that woman. There is only one way to
account for such results. Only the Holy Spirit speaking through her lips could have
produced them. She had commenced drinking of the living water of which Jesus had
been talking to her, and now already the rivers were flowing out to others. What
Jesus did with her, He longs to do with you, and far more, if you will let Him;
though his plan for using you may be utterly different from the one He had for her,
and so the particular results may differ too. Now let me ask very frankly why do we
not have such power for our Master as she? The Master's plan is plain. He said: "Ye
shall have power." But so many of us do not have power! Why not? Well, possibly
some of us are like Nicodemus—there is no power because of timidity, cowardice,
fear of what they will think, or say. Possibly some of us are in the same condition
spiritually that Lazarus was in physically; we are tied up tight—hands and feet and
face. Some sin. some compromise, some hushing of that inner voice, something
wrong. Some little thing, you may say. Humph! as though anything could be little
that is wrong! Sin is never little!
which are more excellent.
"IF ANY MAN THIRST------" Just wanting a drink of water is not thirsting. We
know nothing about thirst here in a land with water on tap at our elbows. Dr. Torrey
tells us that he knew nothing of thirst until he was with soldiers of the Spanish-
American war in camp, where dust filled the air day and night and where, as he put
it, they ate dust, drank dust, slept dust and dreamed dust, and there was no water
anywhere fit to drink. Again, he was in China when cholera was raging and he could
drink no water on the boat, but drank soft drinks as long as he dared, then lay all
night suffering with thirst and thinking of his well at Northfield, far away. Ask some
missionary to tell you what thirst is, when every pore of the body cries, "Water,
water, water;" when the desert seems to be inside of you, and the lips swell, and
every desire, hope and thought is just concentrated in one burning fever for a
cooling drink. That is thirst, not just a casual, ordinary, normal inclination to drink
water.

Cleansing
Ezekiel 16:9 ; 36:25 ; Ephesians 5:26 ; Hebrews 10:22
Fertilising
Psalms 1:3 ; Isaiah 27:3 Isaiah 27:6 ; Isaiah 44:3 Isaiah 44:4 ; 58:11
Refreshing
Psalms 46:4 ; Isaiah 41:17 Isaiah 41:18
Abundant
John 7:37 John 7:38
Freely given
Isaiah 55:1 ; John 4:14 ; Revelation 22:17
There are many Old Testament Scriptures that link water to God’s abundant
blessing on believers (e.g. Ps. 78:15-16; Prov. 4:23; Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 36:26-27; 47:1-9;
Joel 3:18; Zech. 13:1; 14:8).
Hebrews 10:21-22 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us
draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our
bodies washed with pure water.
Ephesians 5:25-27 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and
gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water
through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain
or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Psalm 36:8, Psalm 36:9; Isaiah 44:3, Isaiah 44:4; Joel 2:23.
protestants also believe in holy water.

Oh ! Christ He is the fountain,
The deep, sweet well of love !
The streams on earth I've tasted,
More deep I'll drink above.
WIND
Wind and God's Spirit
The Spirit
Charles Whitaker
Sermon ; #1192B; 39 minutes
Given 04-Jan-14
Description: (hide)
Charles Whitaker, commenting on the symbol of wind in Scripture, suggests that there are
both positive and negative connotations. Wind can be frightfully powerful, as depicted by
tornadoes and hurricanes. Wind has the function to broadcast seed and disperse pollen. Wind
can damage soil through erosion. Mankind has difficulty controlling or harnessing the wind;
God Almighty controls and channels wind, an invisible medium, making it an ideal symbol for
God's Holy Spirit, having both powerful and gentle properties—as a still small voice of a gentle
breeze. When we consider the voice mechanism, the power to articulate the vocal bands is
wind from the lungs. Through the spirit in man, mankind can produce audible vocal symbols
called words, symbols of concepts, referred to by the Greeks as logos. Words are intended to
convey meaning. Thought without words cannot be communicated. Without words, we have
no access to spirit whether it is the spirit in man, a demonic spirit, or God's Holy Spirit. Wind is
a major factor in determining the weather, as well the psychological environment of our mind
—a kind of zeitgeist having the power to encourage or discourage attitudes. God's breathing

life into Adam was a precursor of the later granting of His Holy Spirit. Through God's Words
empowered with His Holy Spirit, we can be transported into His Kingdom.
Used as an image in the Scriptures, wind often has a negative meaning. Yet, at other times,
the symbol of wind has a decidedly positive meaning. The image of wind covers a lot of
territory. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery comments that “wind in Scripture can picture lack
of substance and mean adversity or changeableness.” The writer continues; “Only when the
pictures of wind connects to the person of God do we find more positive meanings.”
So it is at least apparently, a study of wind is a study in contrasts, we can say a study in
opposites. All of this makes wind one of the most complex images in the Scriptures and, by
that token, an image can be surprising.
One person actually wrote to the church awhile back, and he stated that the air around us—
wind—is the Holy Spirit. Well obviously, he had confused the symbol with the thing for which
the symbol stood. Today I want to talk about the symbol of wind. My approach would be to
review five physical characteristics of wind and see what each one can teach us about the
Spirit.
First, wind can be titanically powerful. The major upper atmospheric winds are actually set up
by the rotation of the earth. An EF5 tornado registers speeds in excess of 200 mph. I will avoid
the more sensational examples of wind power, focusing instead on examples more interesting
to me at least than tangled buildings and demolished homes.
As one example, we know that wind is capable of cleaning the atmosphere of colloidal
substances such as clouds. In no time at all, practically, winds can clear the air of smoke, dust,
and haze. Of course we know what wind is powerful enough to disperse today it can gather
tomorrow.
Second example, consider that wind broadcasts seeds through a process called anemochory.
This is a very important function of wind, one that we do not often speak about. Through a
similar process, called anemophily, wind can disperse pollen. It happens all the time, as in the
case of oak, and grasses.
Third example, wind can damage soil over time, that is erosion. Indeed it can move sand from
one continent to another. Saharan sand in North Africa, actually is found in the Caribbean.
Any number of scriptures speak of the power of wind. I will only mention two.
Job 1:18-19 [a servant informs Job] While he as still speaking, another also came and said,
“Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their older brother’s house, and
suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the
house, and it fell on the young men, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Ezekiel 13:11 [God is speaking about the fate of a wall made with untempered mortar] “Say to
those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and

you, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down.”
A second and more interesting aspect of wind is its independence. Wind almost appears to be
impulsive or whimsical, if we were to think about it terms of human behaviors. Its apparent
autonomy, this freedom that it displays to do whatever it pleases, make it a splendid emblem
of God's sovereignty and at the same time of mankind's weakness.
Wind by virtue of its strength, but also its unpredictable changeableness, frustrates mankind.
It leaves him pondering or wondering what is next, and in fact when it comes to powerful
winds, all we can do is hide, seeking shelter for protection.
The wind presents difficulties to man. Ever try to catch the wind? I remember as a boy, the
frustration I encountered as I attempted to catch and stomp on small dust devils that we often
experienced in Southern California. They were no more than a foot high, and so enticing to a
kid, spurting as they did, darting, spiriting about erratically, quickly, existing only a few
seconds. Unless I accidentally collided with one, I was generally unable to catch it. Mankind
has difficulty catching the wind; perhaps the best examples of his successful attempts to do so
are sailing ships, where the sails catch it propelling the vessel.
Although canyons and valleys do channel it, mankind himself is not able to control or channel
the wind effectively, at least on any large scale. Mankind is generally ineffective in damming
up the wind, or storing it, except on modest scales.
For example, we can use a windmill to run a generator which charges a battery, then when the
wind stops we can turn the battery on to power this and that. That is the type of storing the
wind on a fairly small scale. Of course man is not able to stop the wind from blowing.
The wind’s independence, though its perceived characteristic of wandering around at its own
will is certainly more apparent than real. The word wandering comes from the same root as
the word wind.
Amos 4:13 For behold, He who forms mountains, and creates the wind, who declare to man
what his thought is, and makes the morning darkness, who treads the high places of the earth
—the Lord of hosts is His name.
This points out that God “creates the wind.” He controls it. I will mention three examples.
There are many more.
Jonah 1:4 [Holman] “Then the Lord hurled a violent wind on the sea, and such a violent storm
arose on the sea that the ship threatened to break apart.”
Isaiah 30:30 [God's Word translation] “The Lord will make His majestic voice heard. [Hold onto
that word, voice, we will come back to the same Hebrew word shortly.] He will come down
with all His might, with furious anger, with fire storms, windstorms, rainstorms, and
hailstones.”

Matthew 8:26-27 [Common English Bible] [This of course is the well known example where
Christ calmed the storm.] He [that is Christ] said to them, “Why are you afraid, you people of
weak faith?” Then He got up and gave orders to the winds and the lake, and there was a great
calm. The people were amazed and said, “What kind of person is this? Even the winds and the
lake obey Him!”
In summary, the wind appears to us to be independent and intractable, but is in fact
controlled by the sovereign God. But, why does the wind appear so independent, so
intractable, to us? To answer that question, we need to turn to the third point about the
wind's physical characteristic.
Wind is invisible. We cannot see it. One of the two Hebrew nouns generally translated wind is
ruach, which is the word for spirit as well. E.W. Bullinger points out that ruach, in whatever
sense it is used, always represents that which is invisible except by its manifestations. The
invisible wind may raise dust, as with those pesky dust devils which so bedeviled and
outfoxed me as a boy, but the dust is not the wind, just its manifestation.
It is in the New Testament where the classic connection between wind and invisibility
appears. You know it well, please turn to John 3. Here the Greek word is pneuma, wind is
often translated as spirit, although it means wind, and in that sense it is just like the Hebrew
word ruach, which is also translated sometimes as wind and sometimes as spirit.
John 3:8 [Holman] “The wind blows where it pleases, [independence] and you hear its sound,
but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going. [invisibility] So it is with
everyone born of the spirit.”
What is by far the most positive treatment of wind in the Scriptures, Christ connects God's
Spirit with the wind, stressing its invisibility as well as its independence.
Please turn to I Kings 19. I will be going into the fourth point about wind's physical features.
This fourth point permits us to make the connection between wind and words, or wind and
voice. It is here that a study of wind really starts to become interesting.
Remember I said that a study of wind is a study of contrasts or opposites. So, at this point, I
need to call out the fact that wind does not need to be powerful. It does not have to be
overwhelming or fearsome or destructive. It can be a very light and gentle breeze. It can be
bracing, invigorating, even refreshing.
In I Kings 19 we find the use of both concepts of wind. Powerful gale and gentle breeze. It is
quite an interesting scripture.
I Kings 19:11-12 [Contemporary English Version] [God is speaking to Elijah] “Go out, and stand
on the mountain. I want you to see Me when I pass by.” [This is going to be one of those
circumstances where someone sees God. The pertinent questions become, How does Elijah
come to see Him? Where does the prophet find God?] All at once, a strong wind shook the

Holy spirit alphabet vol. 7

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Holy spirit alphabet vol. 7