THE CONTINUOUS FILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Morning Meditations 1/16/16

Our meditation this morning will be on John 7:37-39: “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. (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.).

We looked at John chapter 4 and verse 14 where the word “drinketh” is aorist tense verb. Jesus’ offer to the woman was if she would take one single drink she would never thirst again. This passage is different. John chapter four is talking about being saved which results in everlasting life. Here Jesus is speaking of the continuous filling of the Holy Spirit for the walk of the believer after salvation. See verse 39 to identify the subject. The continuous filling of the Holy Spirit for EVERY believer will only be possible after Pentecost.

Now lets look at the verse. Jesus said in verse 37: “If any man thirst (dipsao)” is a third class condition which means “maybe he will, maybe he won’t, but if he does.” The word “thirst” means “to suffer from thirst.” It is a present active subjunctive verb. This means that it is potential. The present tense means “If any man keeps on being thirsty.” The words “Let him come to me and drink” is first of all an invitation to come to Christ for drinking. Jesus is the source of the filling of the Holy Spirit not the Holy Spirit. When you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, do not go to the Holy Spirit, go to Jesus. The words “Let him come to me” is also a present middle imperative verb. The present tense means to keep on coming. The middle voice means that the subject (to one coming) will benefit from and participate in the result of the action. The imperative mood is a command and a way of expressing urgency. It is urgent that we be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is not the flesh of a Christian responding to the requests of Christ. The Christian life is the life that Jesus lived on earth being lived now by Him in us through the filling of the Holy Spirit. Second, it is an invitation to drink. The word “drink” (pino) is a present active imperative. The present tense means to keep on drinking. It is not a single drink to which the “any man” is invited. It is to drink and drink and drink and drink and keep on drinking because Jesus will be the source of the filling of the Holy Spirit. You will find that Jesus is the One to whom the Father gave the Holy Spirit after His resurrection and it was He (Christ) who baptized the Church in the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the Gift of Christ to the church. The imperative mood speaks of command and urgency. This same imperative mood is used by Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” It is not only the imperative mood here but also the passive voice. Paul is not only setting forth the urgency of being filled with the Holy Spirit but also the fact that we are the recipients (the passive voice means the subject receive the action). Jesus fills us. We do not fill ourselves.

Jesus states the condition in verse 38: “He that believeth on me.” The word “believeth” (pisteuo) means “to think to be true, to be persuaded.” This mean that the one coming to Jesus must be persuaded that He is the Truth and what He promises is true and what He says He will do He will do. It is not a matter of TRYING TO SEE. The word “believeth” is also a present active participle. The present tense means that he keeps on coming. The active voice means that he takes the action to do it. The words “Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” state the result of coming and continuing to drink. The words “shall flow”(rheo) is a future active indicative verb. The future tense is used here because Jesus is speaking to them about what will happen on Pentecost (verse 39) and what will be the result of Pentecost after Pentecost (see Acts 2:39). The words “rivers of living water” (potamos) means “a stream, a river, a torrent.” It is rivers not a river. These waters represent the Holy Spirit, not in a pool or lake, but a continuous flow out of the innermost being of the believer as he continues to come and continues to drink of Christ.

Jesus is the source of salvation. One drink will do forever when salvation is the subject. It is different with the filling of the Holy Spirit. To stay filled so that rivers issue out of our innermost being, we must come to Jesus believing and drinking, and drinking and drinking and drinking......

I thirst. How about you? I have been to Him this morning. Oh, the joy and unexplainable spiritual experience of drinking from Him. Don’t just take the single drink from Him. That will get you to heaven. But go back to Him and drink and drink and drink...

May God bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Earl White