Rivers
Of Living Water
John 7:33 “Then said Jesus unto them, Yet
a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him
that sent me.
34 Ye shall seek
me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither
ye cannot come.
35 Then said the
Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we
shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed
among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?
36 What manner of saying is this
that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find
me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come?
37 In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any
man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
38 He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water.
39 (But
this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe
on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not
yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.)
40 Many of the
people therefore, when they heard this saying, said,
Of a truth this is the Prophet.
41
Others said, This is the Christ. But some said,
Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
42
Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of
the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem,
where David was?
43 So there was
a division among the people because of him.
44 And some of them would have
taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the
chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto
them, Why have ye not brought him?
46
The officers answered, Never man spake like this
man.
47 Then answered them the
Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?
48
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed
on him?
49 But this people who
knoweth not the law are cursed.
50
Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by
night, being one of them,)
51
Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and
know what he doeth?
52 They
answered and said unto him, Art thou also of
Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet.
53 And every
man went unto his own house.”
1. A Little While
2. Living Waters
3. Out Of The Belly
4. The Glorification First
5. The Timing Of The Holy Ghost
6. The Law
Fulfilled
1. A Little While
In our first verses here [verse thirty-three and four] we see the transitive nature of the first advent, or first coming of the Son of God to this earth. Jesus Christ came to accomplish a mission, and once the mission was complete, he would go back to the HOME base [HEAVEN].
“Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”
He was telling the Jews here, I will be here with you for a little while, then I’ll be gone. Furthermore, you will not be able to follow me because you have a problem. You are “flesh and blood”. “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” [1 Corinthians 15:50]
Flesh and blood imposes a limitation or a constraint on what is possible. The SIN problem has not been dealt with yet. As long as a person is flesh and blood, he or she is not ready for the trip to Heaven. Flesh and blood cannot go to Heaven. That is why Jesus said: “ye cannot come.”
The following verses [verses thirty-five and six] only prove the limitation of the flesh and blood to even fathom or comprehend what the Son of God was saying to them.
2. Living Waters
Verse thirty seven and thirty-eight: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, 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.” [See my commentary earlier given the Living Waters in John 4:10-15]
This reference to living waters in the Bible points to Jesus Christ. More than this; it is pointing to a specific time coming to this earth. It will be the time of the restitution of all things.
[Acts 3:21] “Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
It will be in the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem that the living waters shall flow. Jesus Christ is the FOUNTAIN of the fountain of living waters.
• [Zechariah 14:8-9] “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.”
• [Revelation 7:17] “For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
• [Jeremiah 17:13-14] “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.”
After the one thousand year kingdom transits into eternity ... when time shall be no more ... then the FOUNTAIN will usher forth a river of life that will water a TREE of life for the healing of nations.
• [Rev 22:1] “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.”
• [Rev 22:2] “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
3. Out Of The Belly
In this dispensation it is different.
In this dispensation the sinner who puts their trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation from the fires of HELL [which we deserve] RECEIVES the HOLY SPIRIT Who promises to INDWELL the BELIEVER perpetually.
The FOUNTAIN of living waters [the very GOD of Jeremiah 2:13] was standing before them that day in this feast.
They didn't see it. Do you see it? Look at it.
Verse thirty-seven: “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
Verse thirty-eight and thirty-nine a: “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.”
The indwelling Spirit of God is the LIVING WATER that comes from the FOUNTAIN of living waters. Amen! Amen! Amen!
4. The Glorification First
We need to notice something here. We need to get this thing right about the TIMING of The HOLY GHOST's work [the rivers of living water] which will come out of the belly of the believer in Jesus Christ.
Are you ready to LEARN?
Here we go!
No one present that day at the feast could receive the Holy Ghost because: [verse thirty-nine]
1. "the Holy Ghost was not yet given;"
2. [and] “because that Jesus was not yet glorified.")
The Holy Ghost is not GIVEN yet because Jesus Christ was GLORIFED yet.
Then next question, when was Jesus Christ glorified?
Here we go:
[John 12:16] “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”
[This will be more fully explained when we get to John chapter twelve.]
[Acts 3:13] “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”
5. The Timing Of The Holy Ghost
The key scripture is: 1 Corinthians 15:20: “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”
When Jesus rose from the dead, DEATH was conquered, and the flesh and blood of a mortal body had now been replaced by a glorified body of flesh and bones.
HIS BLOOD was shed!
[Luke 24:39] “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
When we receive our glorified bodies while ... in transit to heaven ... [The Translation of The Church], it will not be with a natural body of flesh and blood [like we have now] but it will be with a body of flesh and bones [without the blood].
Why? It is because we will be like HIM! [Ephesians 5:30] “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.”
Look at [1 John 3:2]: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
6. The Law Fulfilled
Verse forty-one: “Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, Shall Christ come out of Galilee?” Look, see the Scripture FORESEES, and then IT COMES TO PASS. No surprise. You can count on The BOOK!
• [Micah 5:2] “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
• [Matthew 2:1-8] “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.”
The Scripture was fulfilled right under their very noses, and they didn’t even realize it.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem [as the Scripture showed] and was raised up as a child in Galilee.
He came out of Galilee in northern Israel but was born in southern Israel of Bethlehem Judea.
Jesus Christ fulfilled THE LAW!
Those in His day that “said, This is the Christ”, were absolutely RIGHT.
How about you?
Do you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ?
Are you saved?