thirsty for the holy spirit

John 7:37-39

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams [rivers] of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

The analogy of Holy Spirit and water is a powerful one reflecting spiritually what happens physically.Your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70%water.Your body needs water to regulate body temperature and to provide the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs. Water also transports oxygen to your cells, removes waste, and protects your joints and organs.If you are very active, you lose more water than if you are sedentary.


Symptoms of mild dehydration include chronic pains in joints and muscles,lower back pain, headaches and constipation. A strong odour to your urine, along with a yellow or amber colour indicates that you may not be getting enough water. Thirst is an obvious sign of dehydration and in fact, you need water long before you feel thirsty.

How dehydrated of the Holy Spirit are you?


In Jn 7:37-39 we have Jesus speaking in the temple on the most crowded day of the most popular feast of Israel. Jesus takes a very direct and public stand.

There is no wishy-washiness here. He issues the call,

Are you thirsty? Come and drink!

Do you desire satisfaction? Come and Drink!

Are you burdened by the bad things you’ve done? Come and Drink!

Are you weighed down by the struggles of life? Come and Drink!

Jesus calls and leaves us to consider our response.


1. Your own need is met- your deep spiritual thirst is satisfied by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God2. Flowing from the Belly not the Brain- innermost being - hidden inner parts of a persons being- not about intellect, ingenuity or intelligence- note that they are flowing out - we dont have to pump it up for ourselves there is a flow of God


3. Continual flow - believes is a continuous word in the Greek - Eph 5:18, go on being filled...an uninterrupted flow - continuous fruit bearing, regular witness, faithful service, loving obedienceHence Rev 22:1,2 - the tree bears fruit every month4. Abundant flow - copious - Rivers - Much fruit - Jn 15:5 - no - fruit - more - muchGreater works Jn 14:12Abundant life - Jn 10:10Abounding in the work of the Lord - 1Cor 15:58


The Holy SpiritIn the life of the

believers in Acts –

receiving himWednesday 16 May 2012

“Martin Lloyd-Jones in his book Joy Unspeakable describes the difference between common Christian living and what happens when the Holy Spirit “clothes” a person with power or “comes upon” a person with this unusual power.

He says it is like a child walking along holding his father’s hand. All is well. The child is happy. He feels secure. His father loves him. He believes that his father loves him but there is no unusual urge to talk about this or sing about it. It is true and it is pleasant.


Then suddenly the father startles the child by reaching down and sweeping him up into his arms and hugging him tightly and kissing him on the neck and whispering, “I love you so much!” And then holding the stunned child back so that he can look into his face and saying with all his heart, “I am so glad you are mine.” Then hugging him once more with unspeakable warmth and affection. Then he puts the child down and they continue their walk.


This, Lloyd-Jones says, is what happens when a person is baptized with the Holy Spirit. A pleasant and happy walk with God is swept up into an unspeakable new level of joy and love and assurance and reality that leaves the Christian so utterly certain of the immediate reality of Jesus that he is overflowing in praise and more free and bold in witness than he ever imagined he could be.


The child is simply stunned. He doesn’t know whether to cry or shout or fall down or run, he is so happy. The fuses of love are so overloaded they almost blow out. ...there is utter and indestructible assurance, so that you know that you know that you know that God is real and that Jesus lives and that you are loved, and that to be saved is the greatest thing in the world. And as you walk on down the street you can scarcely contain yourself, and you want to cry out, “My father loves me! My father loves me! O, what a great father I have! What a father! What a father!”


The Holy Spiritand the

believers in Acts –

receiving himWednesday 16 May 2012

•They were already believers

•It was a definite experience

•It is a gift of God - promise of the Father

•A response is required


Is your experience of the Holy Spirit intellectual?


Vital Truth:The Holy Spirit is a Person


Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Acts 2:33

Poured Out


...was spoken through the prophet Joel:‘In the last days it will be, God declares,that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.Even upon my slaves, both men and women,in those days I will pour out my Spirit;and they shall prophesy. Acts 2:16-18


The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Acts 10:45-46


While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.

Acts 10:44 NKJV

Fall Upon


Acts 8:12 – they were born again

For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:16-17

Received


But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

Comes Upon


For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 1:5

Fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4

Baptised


• It is not properly being baptized by – after all Jesus is the one who baptizes us

•We are baptized into

• Thus we are enveloped, plunged under, drenched, saturated, soaked or immersed into the reality of the Holy Spirit


All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:4

Note that the house was filled first – 2:2 – so they were surrounded!

Filled


In other cases it is a filling of people who had been filled earlierPeter – Acts 4:8, Disciples – Acts 4:31Paul – Acts 13:9Stephen – Acts 7:55Barnabas – Acts 11:24Jesus – Luke 4:1


Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 5:18

be continuously filled – go on being filled


Dangers in our fellowship with the

Holy Spirit


Vital Truth:The Holy Spirit is a Person


Eph 4:30…And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption

How can we can grieve him?


Eph 4:31…Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice


Acts 5:3,4…Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?


…Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”


1Thess 5:19

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire


1Thess 5:20

…do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good


Acts 7:51

You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!


Heb 10:29…Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot


Heb 10:29…who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?


“The Spirit of God acts with considerable disturbing effect. It is part of his nature to do so.”

Donald Guthrie, NT Theology


“The work of the Holy Spirit is to manifest the active presence of God in the world, and especially in the church”

Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology


thirsty for the holy spirit

Spiritual