John
7:38
- Spirit of Christ - Living Waters - Holy Spirit Baptism
See Lipscomb University living waters and "Spiritual Formation" claims.
The Holy Spirit is the Mind of Jesus Christ
These notes are a collection of passages on the topic. They do not have a plot or a goal to convince anyone of anything.
"Spirit" is not enthusiasm. You cannot force your way "into the presence of God" with musical worship teams, dance, drama and sermonic philosophy to make people feel. Christianity is a Spirit or Mind religion. Spirit is the eternal truth flowing or poured out by God through the words of Lord Jesus Christ Who was full Deity.
Jesus said that He was the door or gate and those who care will find out what is true and false.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Matthew 7:13
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:14
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15
Jesus pictures the way to Him as very narrow. Few will ignore the many and find the gate which is Jesus revealed by His Words. They will not find the gate because the many, false, professional impostors "see godliness as a means of financial gain." Jesus says that they are really soothsayers who, naturally, use the gongs and clangs of the witch to try to climb over the sheep fold walls or even break them down. They were:
Pseudoprophetes (g5578) psyoo-dop- rof-ay'-tace; from 5571 and 4396; a spurious prophet, i.e. pretended foreteller or religious impostor: - false prophet.
BELOVED, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
Jesus warned that the professional clergy of the Jews took away the keys of knowledge by smashing opposition like a bug or hanging them on a pole.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him,
and he would have given thee living water. John 4:10
The gift of God was not the separate Father Person as a gift. Rather, the water of the word was the gift of God.
Peter promised the gift of the Spirit after baptism and Paul promised the Jews that when they turned to the Lord their eyes would be open and they could understand the Words of life.
The Samaritan woman was astounded about how Jesus was going to get this water without a bucket and a rope. Was He greater than Jacob.
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14
Jesus was not remotely suggesting that the woman "drink" Him personally.
Jesus began to give her the "living waters" by teaching her about the temple and worship. Worship would not be in a specific "house" but because the kingdom is within you, worship would be in spirit (mind) by honoring and speaking the truth - His Words. The word "living" in Greek is:
Zao (g2198) dzah'-o; a prim. verb; to live (lit. or fig.): - life (- time), (a-) live (-ly), quick.
Later, Jesus warned against trusting the "flesh" rather than the "spirit" by saying that:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
This is the life which is living in John 4:10. As water is necessary for physical or ZOE-life, Christ's Spirit or mental disposition is what gives spiritual life:
Zoe (g2222) dzo-ay'; from 2198; life (lit. or fig.): - life (- time). Comp. 5590. (Click for the misuse of this term)
The "spirit" which comes through the Words of Christ, Who was fully God - indwelled, was pneuma. This was not the Holy Spirit as a person but "the vital principle, mental disposition, rational soul."
The wind is used to describe the inner nature of man or God because it is the invisible source of rational thought which is the only way to mediate the outward flesh. The Holy Spirit is not literal water, a dove or a "person" of the Godhead separated from the One Deity which dwelled fully in Jesus Christ.
Water is that which gives life along with air. This, too, describes the powerful Word of God which, when spoken, created the universe. For instance, "God walked upon the wings of the wind or spirit."
HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Isaiah 55:3
Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Isaiah 55:4
Those who claim authority to mediate the Holy Spirit in outward, fleshly manifestations always sell the spirit. In fact, you cannot get their "spirit" in the form of laughing or speaking in tongues unless you are carefully taught to gradually abandon the mind (spirit) and let the flesh do its thing. Because the Spirit as the Words of Christ cannot produce purely fleshly or outward responses, these men and women make not attempt to give you the waters of life, free of charge.
Those who commercialize the Word cannot survive without beating down anyone who makes a direct attempt to draw water from the well and share it with others. In this way, they refuse to enter the kingdom and prevent others from entering. They are the ones who flock around the gate and hold musical festivals and literally prevent honest seekers from finding the free way:
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isaiah 55:10
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
Israel always failed when they thought that God's Words were not "spiritual" like those of the Canaanite Baals who encouraged you to create your own spirit by singing, dancing, music, wine and sex. They "hewed out their own cisterns" and ignored the living waters which come uncontaminated from God:
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. Jeremiah 17:13
Israel's real problem was that they had adopted a plurality of Gods. However, they knew that however He is described God is one God. When the One God, named Jesus, Joshua or Jehovah-Saves came, He would fill all of the roles of the pagan polytheism and supply living waters flowing freely out from Jerusalem:
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. Zechariah 14:8
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. Zechariah 14:9
Earlier, Zechariah saw what Stephen saw: two officers but not two gods sitting on the throne:
Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. Zechariah 6:13
Stephen, saw Jesus standing to the right of the glory of God which He gave up to become a man. When he prayed to God, he called Him "Lord, Jesus"--
And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Acts 7:59
Jesus refused to attend until the opening musical festival of singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, reading poems and sermons and selling books was over. The Jews believed that the festivals provided life when they held their water drawing festivals
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying,
Jesus quotes a prophecy of HIMSELF. Jesus as the Son believed or was FAITHFUL to only speak what He heard from the "Father" within himself:
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. John 7:37He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38
(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.) John 7:39
These festivals of light, water and music were not part of the Law of Moses but were added during the Kingdom period when Israel abandoned God and demanded a king so that they could worship like the nations:
"After the Exile, the feast was protracted to the twenty-fifth of the month, and two new rites were added to the old ceremonial. Every morning of the celebration a priest went down to the Siloe Fountain, whence he brought in a golden ewer water which was pored on the alter of holocausts amidst the singing of the Hallel (Pss, cxii-cxvii) and the joyful sound of musical instruments."
The "moving waters" had value only when applied by Jesus Christ. This superstitious ceremony led Jesus to show that it was not the external, musical joy which He promised but "living waters" or "spirit" which would flow out of the mind or heart of the believer. Jesus gave no credence to the power of the musical celebration.
When Christ poured out His Spirit on Pentecost and elsewhere, the result was that people praised Him or preached about Him in whatever language was needed. The "spirit" which was poured out was the Words of Christ (the Spirit 1 Peter 1:11) as He guided the apostles into all truth.
When miracles were worked as signs of the Word, it was Lord Jesus Christ who performed the signs:
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Mark 16:20
Should a wise man utter vain knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Job 15:2
Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good? Job 15:3
They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. Job 15:35
Isaiah warned of those who invent their own songs and sermons that they were made pregnant by a "threshing machine" and gave birth to "stubble" which would be burned up in a "baptism of fire"--
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath (Spirit), as fire, shall devour you. Isaiah 33:11 (For Details Footnote)
The wind is spirit (h7307) which is the same word as Holy Spirit in Hebrew.
Later, in the book of Job, Elihu could not stand the idle chatter any more and said:
For I am full of matter, the spirit within me constraineth me. Job 32:18
Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new bottles. Job 32:19
I will speak, that I may be refreshed: I will open my lips and answer. Job 32:20
Therefore, the spirit which flowed out of the belly of the people was the Words of Christ which He poured out on the day of Pentecost and totally immersed them as He empowered the apostles. The Spirit or word would tell people how to be saved but the symbol of fire predicted the soon destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation to be burned up or consumed at Gehenna where "the worm (maggots) dieth not."
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:13KJV
For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--
and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 1 Corinthians 12:13LIV
Again, look at the prophesy which connects water and the Word:
HO, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: Isaiah 55:10
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
A later writer understood this perfectly:
Blessed then are the ministers of that draught who are entrusted with that water of His:
They have assuaged the dry lips, and they that had fainted they have raised up" Odes of Solomon, Ode 6:12-13
He hath filled me with words of truth; that I may speak the same Ode 12:1
and like the flow of waters flows truth from my mouth, and my lips show forth His fruit. Odes of Solomon, Odes of Solomon, Ode 12:2
And He has caused His knowledge to abound in me, because the mouth of the Lord is the true Word, and the door of His light; Odes of Solomon, Ode 12:3
and the Most High hath given it to His words, which are the interpreters of His own beauty, and the repeaters of His praise, and confessors of His counsel, and the heralds of his thoughts, and the chasteners of His servants." Odes of Solomon, Ode 12: 4
For comments on the Sword of the Spirit as the Mouth of the Speaker, Click Here.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:11
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12
Which things also we speak, not in the words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1 Corinthians 2:13
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16
To say "Holy Spirit" in this sense is to say "God." However, "Spirit" conveyed to us is the Mind of Christ (Spirit) living within our mind or spirit. Spoken "Word" was capable of creating the universe and it is capable of imparting the mind or nature of God to believers. Look at a few assorted passages:
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. John 6:68
This is the same life which Jesus defined as spirit:
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. John 6:63
He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Fathers which sent me. John 14:24
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, Ephesians 5:26
Mankind cannot be renewed or "revived" by a revival of human philosophy or human opinion chopping up the Spirit Words of Christ. Rather, renewing of the mind
And be not conformed to this world: but ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Titus 3:5
Walter Scott said that a Holy Spirit is the spirit of a believer made holy by following the Word of God and the witness of this Holy Spirit is the fruit of a holy life.
Now then the expression stands for both God the Holy Spirit, and for a believer's spirit made holy by him."
The Bible is not the Person called the Holy Spirit separated from "Father and Son." Rather, the Words of Christ are Spirit and Life because they are the words of God which words had the power to create the mind of those who now deny that His words are the "carriers" of Divine, Creative power. The following table is often manipulated to confess that Word and Spirit are the same but then make the Bible the "Sword" which the Holy Spirit Person must manipulate. For instance, some common notes which miss the point are:
Similar qualities does not mean two things are the same. Identical twins have many similar qualities but are distinct.
There are several qualities the Holy Spirit has that the word does not:
Rom 8:26 HOLY SPIRIT intercedes (This is our own spirit in conflict with our own flesh. The term "the Holy Spirit is not once mentioned in Romans 8)
1 Cor 2:10 HOLY SPIRIT searches all things. (This is the Mind of Christ and not a separate person Click Here)
1 Cor 12:11 HOLY SPIRIT distributes to each one as He wills
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 1Cor 12:12
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 1Cor 12:27 (Christ builds His own body by giving gifts)
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ Ep.4:7
The Holy Spirit revealed the Bible.
He is the revealer (I will not leave you comfortless John 14:16)
The Bible is the revelation (I will come to you, John 14:1)
The Bible is the sword of the Spirit, not the Spirit Himself. Eph 6:17
Paul didn't tell the Holy Spirit to take up His Sword, the Word. Rather, the Word is the sword of the Spirit (mind of Christ) and Paul said for us to swing it:
Wherefore (you) take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph 6:13
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I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, 'I had a dream! I had a dream! Jer 23:25
How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? Jer 23:26
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, which they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. Jer 23:27
Job, Isaiah, Ezekiel and others reveal God's message that a beautiful song with a well-played instrument is the symbol that people have no interest in God's Word. Notice how Jeremiah puts this in the 1, 2, 3 form--
Here, Jeremiah expresses the same theme because the "dreams" were often put into the form of "magical incantations." The better "songs" even got in the "catalogue" of incantations which others could sing. Even modern songs are often the result of dreamers.
They recited these magical dreams because they were trying to keep God's Word from being taught.
Jeremiah, says, however, that all magical incantations or dreams are "delusions out of their own mind" (1 Cor 14) which are delivered in the "prophesying" style which was often singing with musical instruments. Jeremiah knew that the "workshops of the prophets" in which they travelled over land and sea to steal messages from one another was a way to make the tribe believe that they were going to return with some new magic that the literate eighth-grader couldn't find in Scripture.
In the next verse God told the dreamers to speak on but "the one who has my word must speak it faithfully." In God's words, the truth is "grain" but the dreams or made-up sermons are just "straw."
Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain?" declares the LORD. Jer 23:28
Because truth failed, God would come as His own intercessor, redeemer, right arm and etc. Many of the prophets issue the same warning. This is the identical message given by God through Isaiah:
Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself. Isa 33:10
Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you. Isa 33:11
And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire. Isa 33:12
In a parallel to Amos, God warns Israel that they have given up on His "vineyard" and turned their lives into one huge religious festival. The natural result was that by inventing their own message the people would starve for the Word of God:
Woe to them that rise up in the morning, and follow strong drink; who wat at till the evening: for the wine shall inflame them
For they drink wine with harp, and psaltery, and drums, and pipes:
but they regard not the works of the Lord, and consider not the work of his hands
Therefore my people have been taken captive, because they know not the Lord: and there has been a multitude of dead bodies, because of hunger and of thirst for water Isaiah 5:11-13 LXX
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isa 5:13KJV
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Is.58:13
God through Amos issued the same warning. The problem was that they ignored true sacrifice and turned it into a daily "take up the collection" and speaking their own words:
That chant (parate their own words like speaking in tongues) to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; Am.6:5
And I will turn your feasts (religious festivals) into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. Amos 8:10
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: Amos 8:11
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. Amos 8:12
Throughout Isaiah there is a criticism of those who go to anyone but God for the Word:
Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples. Isa 8:16
will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him. Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion. Isa 8:17-18
When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? Isa 8:19
In the modern context, a medium or spiritist may not just be a charismatic. They may be any person who claims to have a special insight into the Word of God; one who places his body between the honest seeker of truth and the Word of God. This is why Jesus absolutely forbids calling any man by any title which indicates superiority in knowledge.
To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. Isa 8:20
Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. Isa 8:21
Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness Isa 8:22
We could go on and on throughout Isaiah to show that people were inventing rather than teaching. Therefore, they were 1eeding the people that which would be burned up. Ezekiel issued the same warning and included the prophesying women.
Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Eze 13:2
Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing Eze 13:3 (See 1 Cor 14)
They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word. Eze 13:6
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Eze 13:7
Anyone who makes up their own message and claims that it comes from God is like the pagan diviners. This is why music of all forms are so important to blunt the thinking minds of the "audience" so that they do not catch on."
Counter added 4.01.05 8:56p 1947 4.04.2010 10000