Water With Life

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again, radio friends, how in the world are you? You doing alright today? Yes, this is your friend, Bob Cook, and I’m glad to be back with you to share from the Word of God. We’re gonna pause, still, on that precious passage in John, Chapter 7, Verses 37 and 38, “In that last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, ‘If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ This spake He of the Spirit which they, that believed on Him should receive.” Do you know the background of what was happening there? This is the Feast of Tabernacles a great feast of rejoicing and gratitude for God’s deliverance. What actually happened was that on this last day of the feast, here’s what happened, I’m going to read this from one of the commentators that I have in my library.

“While the morning sacrifice was being prepared, a priest accompanied by a joyous procession with music went down to the Pool of Siloam from which he drew water into a golden pitcher that held about a quart. On the Sabbath day, they fetched the water from a golden vessel in the temple itself and to which had been carried from Siloam the preceding day. At the same time that the procession started for Siloam, another went to a place in the Kidron Valley, close by, called Motza. From which they brought willow branches, which amid the blasts of the priest’s trumpet, they placed on either side of the altar a burnt offering, bending them over toward it so as to form a kind of leafy canopy. Then, the ordinary sacrifice proceeded and 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 two silver basins with narrow holes, the eastern a little wider for the wine, and the western a little narrow 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 the water were poured, the temple music began and the Hallel was sung. Salvation in connection with the son of David was symbolized by the pouring out of water.” Now, the Talmud says distinctly, and this is a quote from the Talmud, “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 what went on in this 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 blew the three full blasts on 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 toward the altar a forest of leafy branches as the last words of Psalm 113 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 thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Then, “By faith in Him should each one truly become like the Pool of Siloam and from his innermost being, rivers of water would flow. This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should received.” Thus, the significance of the rite, in which they had just taken part, was not only fully explained, but the mode of its fulfillment was pointed out. That’s a good passage there, isn’t it? “If any man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink.” Lord Jesus stood there and cried out that blessed message of salvation even while what was going on was a glorious object lesson an illustration of what God had in mind for every believer.

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his innermost being, from within him, shall flow rivers of living water.” God only not saved you but wants to make you a resource person. God takes the person you are. I think I said this to you a day or so ago. God takes the person that you are and fills that person with His Holy Spirit so as to use every possibility, every faculty, every capability of your life. The magnificent brain of the apostle Paul, together with his unflagging zeal, the ability to speak and to move and motivate crowds of people, Simon, Peter. See all of these different things God takes and uses. Have you ever yielded all that you are just as you are to our Lord? See, most of us aren’t very unusual people, we’re just sorta garden variety vegetables aren’t we, in God’s garden? Not very special, but God can fill the person that is you with His Holy Spirit who comes to dwell in the believer the moment you’re saved. God can fill the person that is you with His Holy Spirit to a point where you become a resource person. “From within him shall flow rivers of living water.”

The same truth was given to the lady who was no lady, that came out to draw water at the ancient well that Jacob had dug outside the town of Sychar in Sumeria. Jesus said, “Whosoever drinketh of this water,” that’s the water at Jacob’s well, “shall thirst again, but whoso drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him be in him a well.” That’s our word, “the artesian well.” A well, an artesian well, a bubbling up spring of water. Bubbling up into everlasting life. Oh, I long for that overflow kind of life don’t you? And the way you achieve it is by faith, by faith, taking all that Jesus is for all that you need. He’s made unto us, 1 Corinthians 1 tells us, “Made unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.” All that you need is in Jesus.

I love that old song, it’s gone out of vogue now. I haven’t heard it sung for many, many years. “All that I need He will always be, all that I need ‘til His face I see, all that I need through eternity, Jesus is all that I need.” Well, He is, “You’re complete in Him and He’s the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Everything that God is is in Jesus and everything that Jesus is is given to you by faith and you can claim for yourself today, by faith, just what is needed and not only to supply your needs, but to make you a resource person so that you’re overflowing. The blessed spillover of divine blessing and divine enablement and divine power and divine possibilities. God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Divine possibilities spilling over from your yielded life.” That’s great isn’t it? Where do you start with all this?

I had a letter from someone not long ago that said, “I feel such a hypocrite oftentimes because things, and thoughts, and ideas, and feelings inside of me are so different from the facade that I present to people outside. Where do I start?” Well, number one, start with the commitment of honest prayer, pray your way through the day, pray when these feelings, and thoughts, and temptations, and urges, and moods strike you. Pray, it is a very simple matter, whisper a prayer just when you need help, don’t wait until after you’ve fallen in to some mess. Pray the minute the thing hits you, something happens and you’re angered, how do you handle that anger? Bottle it up? No, it’ll explode somewhere else. Turn it over to the Lord Jesus, He’ll defuse it, the steam will go out of the pressure cooker.

Some temptation of the flesh hits you, what do you do? Try to fight it in your own strength? No, you’ll collapse. You won’t make it. Instead, you turn it over to the Lord Jesus and He, Himself, becomes your victory. Pray your way through the day, that’s the first place to start, pray your way through the day. Pray when you wake up, pray before you greet the family, pray before you start a first job of work. Pray before you answer the phone, you don’t know who’s at the other end of the wire. Pray before you open a letter, don’t know what’s inside. Pray before you make a decision, pray before you hire, or fire, or transfer somebody. Pray before you sign a contract, pray before you go on a trip, pray before you go on a date, pray before you make the great decisions of life. Pray your way through the day.

Do you ever pray for a parking space? Does God know where there’s a parking space for you in today’s traffic? Yes, He does. Listen, God is interested in the minute details of your life, how do I know? Jesus said, “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Didn’t say counted, said numbered. There’s a separate code number for every follicle, hair follicle on your head. Now a lot of those hair follicles are empty in my case, God seems to be clearing off space for a new face, He liked the one that He made so well, He’s gonna do another I guess. A lot of those hair follicles are empty, but I wanna tell you, the number is still there. [chuckle] They’re all numbered. God is the God of infinite detail and He has an infinite personal interest in you, beloved. And He does care about you and you can pray about things that are not necessarily religious or not even seemingly important. You come to a fork in the road, which way shall I take? They both lead to such and such a town. Say, “Lord, which way do you want me to go?” Why? Because there could be an accident on one road and a clear roadway on the other. You know, God knows, why don’t you trust Him then? See, that’s the idea here, God cares about you.

Where do you start about this matter of becoming a resource person? Pray about everything. Second, depend on the indwelling Holy Spirit to fight the battles for you and to guide you and open every room in your heart house to Him by faith. He comes to dwell in the believer the moment you’re saved but your job is to open the doors of the rooms in your heart house so that you can be full of the Spirit of God. Third, put the Word of God to work in your life. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly,” says Paul. You cannot think about two things at once and if you have the Word of God on your mind, it will control and color your moods and your actions. Reading, meditating, and memorizing the Word of God will make all the difference in the world in your daily life. That’s a start, anyway, in this matter of becoming a resource person, in consciously turning yourself over to your Lord. And when you enter into a conversation with someone who has a need, whisper a prayer, say, “Lord, make me a resource person. Let the rivers of living water flow today.” He’ll answer prayer, I can guarantee it.

Father God today, may we be filled with the Spirit of God so that rivers of living water flow from our lives. In Jesus name I ask this. Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!