“Out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.
“Power from on high!”
So that was it!
g, mortal-
Some miracle-working, soul-transformin
upon them; a
ity-transcending blessing was to come their
and chan ge : aa which should revolutionize
ives.
rely!
Ah! This was a different proposition enti
to obey.
His they were, to love, to serve, and
en, fill and
Now, if He were to stabilize, strength
use them — well enough!
Had he not said:
send I you.
“Ags my Father hath sent me, even SO
20:2 1-22.
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” John
the synagogues,
“And when they bring you unto
and powers, take ye no thought how
and magistrates, t ye shall say;
or what things ye shall answer, or wha the same hour
h you in
for the Holy Ghost shall teac
what ye ought to say.” Luke
y Ghost, whom
“The Comforter, which is the Hol l teach you
He shal
the Father will send in My name, r remembrance,
all things, and brin g all thin gs to you
John 14:26.
whatsoever I have said unto you.”
be given you;
“And I say unto you, ask and it shall seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.
“For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
“Tf ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heayenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Luke 11:9, 10, 18.
“He that believeth on me, as the Scriptures hath said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38.
How many interpreters and students of the Word stop short at this juncture and never finish the passage. Yet the following verse is part and parcel of that which immediately precedes it:
“But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because Jesus was not yet glorified.” John 7:39.
What an infinitely different light this sheds upon the verse!
At times, the writer, seated in the audience or upon the platform of certain ministerial conferences where that thirty-eighth verse of John seventh has been read, has with difficulty resisted the impulse to cry out:
“Oh, Brother, read the next verse also! It is an integral part of the text and explains it all!’’
There, before the Master on that ascension mornSPIRIT 43 ey THE HOLY ing, were illiterate, uncouth, untutored fishermen, called to preach the Everlasting Gospel.
They possessed no eloquence!
Fiery, compelling words were foreign to their lips!
What knew they of rhetoric, synthesis, homiletics or organization methods?
What particular branch of education or scientific research fitted them for such a special task as that of launching the Church ship upon its voyage through the Christian Era?
Yet, here was Christ, deliberately bidding them:
“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel unto every creature.”
How could they fulfill such a commandment?
The answer lay within that magnificent Scripture:
“Out of your innermost being shall flow Rivers of Living Water. This spake He of the Spirit Whom He would send.”
The coming of the Holy Spirit was the solution.
He would be as a River of Water, flowing forth — not from the fountain of their minds, but from their “innermost beings.’’
The source of this river was not in great “earthly learning” or in “higher critical delvings.”
It was fountained in the Holy Spirit Himself, even He Who had actuated and motivated their Lord. Matt. 4:1; Luke 2:27; 4:14.
Rivers — of Living Water.
Not poor, thin, anemic tricklings — but Rivers!
Not dregs, filled with “‘polliwogs”’ of “protoplasmic evolutionary flounderings” drawn from broken cisterns;
Not eked out drops from waterless wells that must forsooth be pumped and pumped by herculean manmade machinations and primings;
Not the poor, tepid, luke-warm apologies of ‘“‘modernistic dry creeks’;
Not the miserable wrangling vaporings of psychology and politics, which are less than useless when they don a frock coat, turn their collars backward, and mount the pulpit to pose as a “Refreshing Draught from the Reservoirs of Heaven.”
But Rwers!
Rivers of Living Water!
Water, flowing full and free and clear from the Infinite Fountains of the Spirit of God!
No stale rehashing of sermons once delivered by someone else!
No puerile, pulpit-porings over profound, ponderous notes! _No haunting fear, lest one lose one’s place amid the sheaves of script and ruin thus the message!
No rehearsing the sermon aforetime, before the study mirror!
Not out of your earthborn thoughts!
Not out of your theorizings and your reasonings!
Hear it!
“Out of your innermost being!
“Shall flow Rivers,— Rivers of Living Water.”
One is smilingly, nevertheless, pityingly reminded of the Parson who, upon accepting an invitation to address a fashionable congregation in a large, neighboring church, had pored long and diligently, and with much burning of the midnight oil over voluminous notes.
Upon reaching the pulpit, he discovered that in the last moment’s excitement, he had forgotten his notes. They reposed upon his study desk some miles distant.
“Friends,” he apologized, “I regret exceedingly that I have forgotten my notes. I shall therefore be obliged to depend upon the Lord this morning, but tonight I shall come better prepared.”’
The disciples were told but to open their mouths, the Lord had promised to fill them!
They the ‘‘Trumpet’’— The Holy Spirit the “Breath” that should blow upon them.
They the ‘“‘Worm” — He the “Hand” that with them should thresh a mountain.
They the “Organ” — His the “Fingers” that would touch the keys and bring forth the melodies of the Master.
Fear not, ye humble messengers trembling upon the Mount of Olives! Faint not, as you look upon the farflung borders of the earth, and contemplate the prodigiousness of thine assigned task! Yours it is to be clean and empty, surrendered and ready! His it is to take you up, fill you with His Spirit and pour you out again as full pitchers of Living Waters o’erturned upon the thirsting flowers.
Surely never since the beginning of Time had a message of such importance been given as that uttered by the Master in those brief and final moments before His ascension. 46 THE HOLY SSPinit
He was as a General, sending His soldiers into war, and giving them the orders of maneuver.
“The enemy is strong,” He said in effect, “but thy God is stronger. You have no need to fight in this battle. You shall hold your peace and the Lord will fight for you. March on! Keep step! Thrust not one another with side or shoulder. March on into fields long held by the enemy. Shot and shell shall assail you. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand by thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh unto thee. Ye shall conquer, not by might, nor by power; but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Ever as you march, the Lord shall let down before you a ‘barrage of flame’; no weapon which is formed against thee shall prosper.”
He was as a Husbandman, journeying to a “‘Far-off Country,” who, calling unto Himself His faithful servants, gives final instruction as to the care and tillage of His fields, reminding them of His soon return to receive the fruitage thereof.
He was as a Shepherd, who, gathering unto Him His under-shepherds, gives them orders concerning oh keeping of the flock during His visit to a “Distant
“There will be raging wolves circling without, seeking whom they may devour; but the Lord will be a ‘Wall of Fire’ roundabout His own, and nothing shall by any means harm them!”
Hewas as a Parent going on before, who, calling unto Himself His little ones delivers unto them His will and testament, advises them as to their rights, privileges and duties, and counsels with them as to the fiery trials which are to come.
“Tf,”’ said He, “they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you!
“Having done these things in the ‘Green Tree’ what will they do in the ‘Dry’?”
Throughout His final discourses, the underlying thought was the paramount necessity of their receiving the coming Comforter, and the attendant blessings to be derived therefrom.
Were they Fearful lest they forget the Message which He had given them to deliver?
“Heshall . . bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26.
Were they Timid as to their answers when hailed before Magistrates and Councils?
“The Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”’ Luke 12:12.
Did they Fear, lest with the imminent departure of the Saviour there would be none to expound the Seripture and bring forth its hidden treasure?
“The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things.”” John 14:26.
Feared they Loneliness, lest it should overcome them?
“T will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter that he may abide with you forever.” John 14:16.
Were they Weak? Did they tremble lest their own frailty should hamper the promulgation of the blessed Gospel?
“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me 48 Tue Houy SPIRIT both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.’”’ Acts 1:8.
Were they Illiterate? Did they hesitate lest their utterance be stammering and meaningless?
“He promised that after they had received of the Spirit’s fulness, there should flow forth from their innermost being streams of living water. J ohn 7:38.
Were they Perplexed, lest they should not know the way?
“Howbeit, when He the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth.” John 16:13.
Did the veiled future affright?
“He will show you things to come.” ‘What more could they ask? What then, need they fear? The “battle” was not theirs, but the Lord’s and they were His and He was theirs.
They the “‘Clay”— He the “Potter.” Theirs to yield the ‘“‘Channel’’— His to fill and use it. They the lifeless, dormant, strung and connected “‘Wires’— His it was to charge and galvanize to action and send thrilling through the length of His Church a motivating power that should bring Life and Light and Blessing to the waiting world.
The little group must have gathered closer and ever closer about the beloved Form, the Form which seemed, with every passing moment, to be less and less of this world.
Almost transparent was He, standing there against
the fullflushed glory of the morn!
They must have sensed that His message was at an
end. There was an unmistakable air of finality about
His closing words and tones; the love-light deepening in His eyes. It was as though He had vested Himself with the ‘Wings of the Morning” and was about to soar away into the dawn.
What must have been His great, o’erwhelming pity for those whom He was to leave, and whose hearts were torn with the anguish of the coming parting.
“Yet I tell you the -truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter
send will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will Him unto you.”
He was going now!
But not for long would they be alone!
“And being assembled together with them, He com-
amanded them that they should not depart from Jerus lem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which saith He, ye have heard of Me.”
“For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall
days be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many hence.”
“And behold, I send the Promise of My Father
until upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem ye be endued with Power from on High.
“And He led them out as far as to Bethany and He
to lifted up His hands and blessed them and it camefrom pass, while He bless ed them, He was parte d
24:49-51. them and carried up into Heaven.” Luke
Note that His last words were all conc erni ng the coming of the Spirit!
“Go — but tarry first!”
This was the burden of His theme.
“Farewell, John!
“Farewell, Peter!
“Farewell, Mary!”
One moment He was standing there upon the earth in their midst. The next, His feet, which had been resting lightly upon the soil, were lifted from the ground.
He began to rise into the air — almost imperceptibly at first. He seemed to be at as great an ease therein as upon the earth.
Higher — higher, He rose before their astounded gaze!
He had risen above them now and before they could collect their startled thoughts, He was gone beyond the reach of their upflung, clutching hands.
Up! Up! Up!
He rose gently, literally, and visibly.
The heavens were filled with glory-tinted clouds, billowing, surging lower. It was as though they were composed of an innumerable host of angels who came to receive Him and bear Him up, upon their pinions.
Faces, tear-stained and wet, strain upward to watch the o’erwhelming sight!
Upturned eyes yearn Heavenward.
Watching — watching — watching, as though life depended upon it — that precious speck in the gathering distance.
Up — up He soared!
And was received into the radiant clouds.
The earth seemed suddenly empty!
But wait — what is that sound?
It is as the singing of an innumerable host; as the harping of ten thousand harps. The Gates of Glory are flung wide for a moment! Then — He is — He is — G-o-n-e!