Volume 47 Number 6 February 2005
There is a place on this earth that is far more desolate
than any wilderness or desert known to man! Wandering
without God in this dying world of sin is to struggle
in a much drier desert than Death Valley on the hottest day of
summer. “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes
fail while I wait for my God.” (Psalms 69:3) To travel down life’s
pathway apart from God is like depriving the body of water.
The spirit within each of us can only live when its massive
thirst for God is quenched by His Spirit! What hope is there for the lost? How can any soul get out of the spiritual
wasteland of sin? Salvation is a process. Man needs to be saved from not only
his sins, but from his sinning as well. God has opened the Way of Salvation
through His Son, Jesus Christ. Just as physical thirst drives a lost person in
the desert to seek a source of water, we begin the process of our salvation with
a spiritual thirst for the living water provided by God: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants
my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1,2) Sometimes we
may not even know who or what we thirst for. But weary, heavy-laden pilgrims
find rest for their souls when they drink of the Spirit Who totally satisfies!
(Matthew 5:6) The Holy Spirit was active in the Creation (Genesis 1:2),
moving upon the void and formless earth to bring about order
and purpose. Today He has also been sent by God to bring
refreshment and order to our lives by making us new creatures
in Christ! (1 Peter 1:12) God promised through the prophet Joel that there would
be a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Last Days;
“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 2:28,29) When we view the
fulfillment of this prophecy as described in Acts chapter 2,
we realize that the primary purpose for this outpouring of the
Spirit was to confirm that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the
Anointed of God. The miraculous ability given to the Apostles
to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance was the
result of the shedding forth of the Spirit at the anointing and
coronation of the Christ (Acts 2:33) and served to confirm the
great unseen event that transpired in heavenly places. The
Holy Spirit truly does as prophesied as He does not testify of
Himself, but of Jesus our Lord! (John 16:13) Before the establishment of the Church in Acts chapter 2,
Jesus had already promised the Holy Spirit would be given to
those who believe in Him. To the Samaritan woman at the
well, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Whoever drinks of this
water will thirst again, 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.’” (John 4:13) Jesus knew this woman was wandering in
the desert of sorrow and sin. He helped her to identify her
lost condition even as he whetted her spiritual thirst for Living
Water! Do you realize how thirsty you are right now? Later we read about the Master extending a very gracious
invitation to thirsty souls in Jerusalem: “On the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘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.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing
in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37) Our Savior spoke
in anticipation of the Day of Pentecost when the Apostle Peter
would make this offer to all who would believe and obey
the gospel. “Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one
of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) Jesus speaks of this Divine Refreshment as one of the best
gifts that could ever be given to the children of God. “If ye
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children:
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask him?” (Luke 11:13) No father would knowingly
withhold refreshment from his thirsty child. God is a better
father than any man, and He truly satisfies every child who
asks Him for a drink. “And we are His witnesses to these things,
and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who
obey Him.” (Acts 5:32) Not only does the Spirit refresh us, He also seals us, a real
indication of how our Father designates us as belonging to
Him alone. “In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that
you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, who
is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14;
See also Ephesians 4:30) The Spirit is also spoken of here as the
guarantee, or earnest, of our inheritance until we are finally
saved from this world at the End. Our heavenly Father really
wants us. Perhaps you think this offer of Living Water is not to be
taken seriously. Maybe you look down on this invitation as
something you don’t need. Please, reconsider: “He therefore
that despises, despises not man, but God, who hath also given unto
us his holy Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 4:8) Lots of people care deeply about the purity of their water.
Are you drinking the purest and cleanest water of all?