How to Have the Living Water of
Peace, Hope, and Purpose That Jesus Promised Us
By
J. Owen Allen, Ph.D.
As you probably know, many Christians today are wondering why Christianity is losing its influence in America. And why church attendance is declining everywhere in the country.
In fact, some of you may be wondering about it, too, because I’m sure the problem has been mentioned from this pulpit by others.
Of course, we know part of the answer. National surveys show that Christianity isn’t meeting many of people’s Spiritual needs. It’s meeting some people’s social needs. And it’s meeting some people’s entertainment needs. And it’s meeting some people’s political needs. But it’s not meeting many people’s Spiritual needs.
And that leaves two questions that every Christian, and every Christian group, ought to answer:
º First, what are “Spiritual needs”?
º Second, how are Spiritual needs “met”?
To find the answers, we need to go back to the roots of Christianity in the harvest festivals of First Century Israel. So let’s do that together for a few minutes.
As strange as it may seem to us today, in Israel, in the First Century, the people had three harvest festivals each year that God commanded them to have. In other words, they had to have the festivals. And they had to attend the festivals, or they were breaking God’s Law.
The first of these required festivals was in the early spring, usually in March. And it was a seven-day celebration of the barley harvest.
The second festival was in the late spring, usually in May. And it was a one-day celebration of the wheat harvest. (We’ll come back to this May festival in a moment, because it’s the key to having our Spiritual needs met!)
But, in Israel, in the First Century, the most important festival was the third one. It was in the early fall, usually in October. And it was an eight-day celebration of the grape, olive, and fig harvests. It was also a celebration of the end of the growing season.
Now, as we said, God commanded the people to have these festivals. So the festivals were really religious events led by the priests. There were parades through the city. And marches out to the fields, where they had “wave offerings” of the crops to thank God for the harvest.
And since the fall festival was the most important one at the time, we need to look at it more closely for a minute: Because it had an odd celebration in it that reveals how Spiritual needs are met! Here’s how that odd celebration worked.
Each day of the October festival, while the people watched, the priests performed a ritual that neither they – nor the people – fully understood.
The celebration started with the priests marching to the Pool of Siloam (“seh-loam'”) in Jerusalem, carrying large golden pitchers made of the purest gold.
In those days, the Pool of Siloam was known as the “Well of Salvation,” because the people anointed kings with its water. And also because its water was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and was thought to have healing powers.
So when the priests reached the pool, they filled their golden pitchers with its water. Then they marched back to the temple, and poured the water on the altar while the people watched.
Now as we said, they didn’t know why they were pouring the water on the altar! All they knew was that, centuries before, the prophet Isaiah had said that, in the Days of the Messiah, here’s what they would do:
“With joy, you will draw ‘Water’ from the ‘Wells of Salvation’.”[2. Adapted from Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 3.]
But, what did that mean? What “water” was Isaiah talking about? And where were the “wells of salvation”? The people didn’t know. And the priests didn’t know. They thought maybe Isaiah was talking about the Pool of Siloam, since it was called “The Well of Salvation.” And that’s why they had the Water Celebration. But they weren’t sure what Isaiah meant.
Then, on the last day (the 8th day) of the fall festival in October of the year 29 AD – Jesus and His disciples were in the temple watching the Water Celebration.
And, as the water was being poured, Jesus turned to the people around Him and gave the first clue to what the Water Celebration meant. Here’s the clue that Jesus gave. It was recorded in the Book of John for us by the disciple, John. Here’s what Jesus said:
“Whoever believes in Me – as the Scripture has said – ‘Rivers’ of ‘Living Water’
will flow up from within him or her.”[3. Adapted from John, chapter 7, verse 38.]
So Isaiah’s prophecy had nothing to do with the Pool of Siloam! It had to do with a special kind of “Living Water” that was going to flow up in people at some future date! But what was that “Living Water”?
Happily, the disciple, John, defined it in the very next verse. Here’s what John said the “Living Water” meant:
“By this (by “Living Water”), Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit – whom
those who believed in Him were to receive later. Because up to that time,
the Spirit had not yet been given.”[4. Adapted from John, chapter 7, verse 39.]
Now, here’s what we need to remember as we continue: In the First Century, “water” was one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit when you were talking about Spiritual matters!
So when Jesus said, “Rivers of ‘Living Water’ will flow up in whoever believes in Me,” He was talking about the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit flooding up in people and meeting their Spiritual needs! Can you imagine that? Let’s think about that for a moment!
What would happen to people if the Holy Spirit flooded up in them? What would they say? How would they think? What would they do? What Spiritual needs would be met in their lives? These are questions that every Christian, and every Christian group, should answer, don’t you agree?
But, there was a big problem with Jesus’s prophecy! Because people didn’t have the Holy Spirit in them at that point in history. The priests … and the people … and even Jesus’s disciples … didn’t have the Holy Spirit in them.
Remember, the disciple John had written, “Up to that time, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given.”
So, where was the Holy Spirit at that point in history? Jesus answered that question in the 14th Chapter of John, when He was telling the disciples what He was going to do after He returned to heaven. And here’s what He said He was going to do in heaven. He said:
“I will ask the Father. And He will give you the Spirit of truth. (And) you’ll
know Him. Because (now) He lives NEAR you. (But soon, He) will be IN you.”[5. Adapted from John, chapter 14, verses 16 and 17.]
Now, there’s a big difference between the Holy Spirit being NEAR people. And the Holy Spirit being IN people. Don’t you agree? The Holy Spirit is probably “NEAR” everybody, right? But He’s not IN everybody!
Well … what happened next in history? Only seven months later the promise came true!
Let’s fast-forward from October, in the year 29 AD, to May, in the year 30 AD. A lot happened between those two dates! Jesus was arrested … tortured … crucified … and buried. He came back to life. He taught the disciples for 40 more days. Then He left them and returned to heaven … exactly like He said He would.
But before He left, He told the disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise of “Living Water” to come true.[6. Adapted from Acts, chapter 1, verse 4.]
And so they did. They waited, and prayed, in a house in Jerusalem, until the morning of the spring wheat festival. We mentioned this festival earlier, and said we’d come back to it. The people called it “The Festival of Pentecost.”[7. Adapted from Acts, chapter 1, verse 1.]
It was 9:00 o’clock in the morning, on May the 30th, in the year 30 AD; when something happened that changed the world! Here’s the way the apostle Luke described it – in the 2nd Chapter of Acts:
“When the morning of Pentecost came, they were all together in the same
place. Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came down from
heaven, and filled the house where they were sitting. Then they saw what
appeared to be tongues of fire that separated and settled down in each one
of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”[8. Adapted from Acts, chapter 2, verses 1 to 4.]
Now – it’s very important to understand that, in the original First Century Greek, this Scripture says that the Holy Spirit “settled down in” each one of the disciples![9. Adapted from Acts, chapter 2, verse 3.]
This is the first time in history that a group of people (120 at first, and then 3,000 more later in the day) was indwelled by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit was no longer NEAR everyone. Now He was IN certain people, exactly as Jesus had promised that He would be.
But here’s the best part! In the 2nd Chapter of Acts, where Peter is explaining what happened on Pentecost morning, he says that – after Jesus left earth and returned to heaven – here’s what happened in heaven:
“He (Jesus) received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit. And He (Jesus)
poured out what you now see and hear.”[10. Adapted from Acts, chapter 2, verse 33.]
Imagine that! The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost morning was the fulfillment of the Water Celebration that the priests had been having for centuries, and didn’t understand its meaning!
Now – time out! Let’s stop right here! Why is Pentecost Morning important?
Think about this. When Christians celebrate what we call “Pentecost Sunday,” they’re actually having a birthday party for Christianity! They’re celebrating the first time that the Holy Spirit indwelled people and gave them the potential to have all of their Spiritual needs met.
You probably already know this. But some congregations actually have a real party on “Pentecost Sunday.” In some, the members wear red clothes to the service. In others, red flower petals are rained down on the members from the ceiling. Others cut a red cake. Or hang red banners. Or light red candles.
Why do they do these things? They do them because they represent the fire of the Holy Spirit that came down on the birthday of Christianity![11. Adapted from Acts, chapter 2, verse 3.]
So here’s the lesson we need to remember: Pentecost morning gave us a Spiritual law that changed world history. Here’s that law:
A “Christian” is a person who’s indwelled by the Holy Spirit. A “non-Christian”
is a person who’s not indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
But there’s an even deeper message in that Law. Here it is:
Now as you know, there’s a trend today to say that all religions are the same. That all religions are equal. That all religions are just different “paths” up the same “mountain” to the same “God.”
That trend claims that Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Voodooism, and all the other religions of the world are all the same.
But that’s not true.
It’s not true because Christianity is the only religion in the world in which the Holy Spirit indwells people and gives them the supernatural potential to have all of their Spiritual needs met.
And remember, that supernatural potential is the “Rivers of Living Water” that Jesus promised to all Christians.
I call that Living Water, “THE RIVERS OF GOD.”
Now, what Spiritual needs do the Rivers of God meet in Christians? They meet three basic Spiritual needs:
a. Spiritual experiences: Such as visits from angels, and miraculous answers to prayer.
b. Spiritual gifts: Such as healings, dreams, visions, and prophecies.
c. Spiritual emotions: Such as love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness that are supernatural
and can’t be produced by human nature.
These are the Spiritual needs that the “Rivers of God” meet in Christians. And meeting them is the normal Christian life. Every Christian is supposed to have these needs met on a daily and weekly basis! And that answers the two Spiritual questions that we started out with: It tells us what “Spiritual needs” are – and it tells us how Spiritual needs are “met”!
But now we have a second big problem. Remember, we said Christianity is the only religion in the world in which its members are indwelled with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Right?
But surveys by Gallup, Barna, Pew, and the other national survey companies show that the average “Christian” today has no more Spiritual power than a “non-Christian.”
And that answers the two national questions that we started out with! That’s why Christianity is losing its “influence” in America! And that’s why “church attendance” is declining everywhere in the country! It’s because many Christians today don’t have any Spiritual power. So, after seeing that, why would we expect non-Christians to be attracted to Christianity?
Let me tell a true story that illustrates the problem that the average Christian has today!
I once had a friend who was watching white water rafting on TV with his wife. And they decided to try it themselves. (Describe white water rafting here.)
So my friends went online and found a company that offered it. The website showed a beautiful log building with a restaurant and gift shop, and with a raging white river behind it.
So they signed up. And they arrived at the log building at 8:00 o’clock one morning to start their adventure with breakfast. They were shown out to a broad veranda and seated. Then my friend turned and looked out at the river.
And there was nothing there! There was nothing behind the building but a dry creek bed. Except that the dry creek bed had an ankle-deep stream running through it.
So my friend got up and walked out to look more closely. And sure enough, there was nothing there but a dry creek bed with an ankle-deep stream in the middle of it.
Stunned, he returned to the table, and told his wife that either they were in the wrong place, or the rafting company was a scam!
At that moment, a server came to their table to take their order. So my friend said to the server, “Where’s the river? Are we in the right place?”
The server laughed and said, “Yes, you’re in the right place! When the power plant up-stream opens the flood-gates at 8:30, you’ll have all the water you need!”
And that’s exactly what happened. At 8:30, they heard a roaring sound. And a wall of water came down the creek bed – filling it with clear, rushing white water. And they had a great rafting adventure after all.
Now, what’s the point of this story?
We said earlier that the average “Christian” today has no more Spiritual power than a “non-Christian.” Now let’s say that a different way:
The average Christian today is only ankle-deep in The Rivers of God.
He or she only has “The Trickles of God” – not The Rivers of God!
In other words, some Christians today – if they have supernatural experiences, gifts, and emotions at all – they only have them once or twice a year!
Why is that? The answer is our last big problem!
Here’s our last big problem. Christians tend to forget that they have the supernatural power within themselves to have all of their Spiritual needs met. They get too busy with life: education, careers, hobbies, and families. Even the early Christians tended to forget!
We know that because the apostle Paul had to remind them of it! Paul’s reminder is in the 3rd Chapter of First Corinthians. Here’s what Paul reminded the early Christians:
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple? And that God’s
Spirit lives IN you? Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit? Who’s IN you. And Who you received from God?”[12. Adapted from First Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 16; and chapter 6, verse 19.]
So down through the ages, Christians have tended to forget about the supernatural power inside themselves!
I know I forgot! When I was young, I was active in a Christian congregation. But I only had “The Trickles of God.” I didn’t have any more Spiritual power than my non-Christian friends! And I didn’t know why, or what to do about it!
And then one day, everything changed. I was sitting in a friend’s car in my driveway. We were in a Sunday School class together, and we’d been reading that week’s lesson together all afternoon in a coffee shop. And the lesson that week happened to be on the Book of Acts.
So, after reading about it all afternoon, we decided that we needed our Spiritual needs met the same way that Peter and Paul had theirs met in the Book of Acts. We decided that we needed healings … and dreams … and prophecies … and visions … and angels in our own lives!
And so we decided to pray for them. We laid our heads on the dashboard of the car and prayed for God to give us everything that the early Christians had in the Book of Acts.
Then my friend went home. And I went in my house for dinner. But within days, Jesus’s promise of “Living Water” for all Christians came true in our lives. The “Rivers of God” began to flow in both of us and began to meet all of our Spiritual needs. And they’ve never stopped since that day!
Now, some of you might be in the same situation I was in that day in my driveway.
You might want more of your Spiritual needs to be met, too. You might want more healings … dreams … prophecies … visions … and angels in your own life.
If you do – let’s keep it simple. I’d like to close with a prayer like the one I prayed in my driveway that day. And if you’d like more Spiritual power in your life, just pray along with me in your mind and mean it. That’s all you need to do!
Let’s pray now:
“Lord God, I need the same Spiritual power that Peter and Paul had in the Book of Acts.
“I need the ‘Living Water’ that Jesus promised to all Christians. I need the Rivers of God. Not the Trickles of God!
“And Lord, if for some reason I’m not indwelled by the Holy Spirit at this time, I ask You to indwell me now. Give me a personal Pentecost right this minute – so I can know for sure that I’m a Christian!
“But God, if I am indwelled, and for some reason I’m not releasing Your Spiritual power in my life, I ask you to let me start releasing it right now … this … very … day!
“And now, Father, for all the new Spiritual things that are going to start happening in my life, I give You the honor, and the glory, and the credit. Amen, and Blessed Amen.”
Now, for those of you who prayed that prayer, you’ve got some wonderful experiences ahead. My advice is to believe in them. Watch for them. And enjoy them. Because Jesus promised them to you in John, chapter 7, verse 38.
And also because they’re … the … normal … Christian … life.
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