Living Water: A Meditation on John 7 and Psalm 25 for the Day of Pentecost

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.)

 

…

 

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed,

let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed:

let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:

for thou art the God of my salvation;

on thee do I wait all the day.

 

Jesus’ teaching in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles was significant, and His declaration on the last day of the feast was instructive.  While ancient Israel gathered on this feast to re-affirm the Covenant of Sinai, the God of our Salvation which David wrote about a thousand years earlier, was in the midst of the people that day.  The Word of the Lord Incarnate stood and spoke the Word of the Lord to the people, and taught them that life and salvation came by no other means than faith in the God who spoke to them.  The living water of which Jesus spoke, which would flow out of those who believed in Him, was that very Gospel Word which brings life and refreshment to all who will receive it.  It is also noteworthy that this pouring out of the Holy Spirit by the Word of the Lord came when the people of God were surrounded by their evil enemies, and when all hope in human strength was shown pointless:  as Noah saw salvation through the flood, Abraham in the giving of the Covenant, Moses before the Egyptian army or the wilderness wanderings, David living on the run in the desert, Elijah before the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel, or the disciples huddled first in a dark room on Easter then only 120 huddled on Pentecost, Jesus standing in the midst of the Pharisees who sought to kill Him was a demonstration of divine power.  No matter how much evil people surround the people of God, when God is in their midst, His people are always preserved by His Gospel Word.

 

This principle is good for the Church to remember in our own times, as evil rises in every quarter of society.  It would be easy for Christian people to despair in the face of public schools corrupting youth, politicians selling out the nation for private gain, academics embracing the dreadful delusions of Marxism, celebrities advocating for nihilistic hedonism in every medium, and family structures crumbling under the encouragement of selfish ambition.  Indeed, who would think that human strength will prevail against the powers of wickedness in high places, who have now moved broad swathes of Western society to define Biblical Christians as terrorists, purveyors of hatred and intolerance for daring to resist homosexuality, transsexualism, adultery, fornication, the murder and mutilation of children, the freedom of individual conscience and mind expressed in word, speech, and worship, and the equal moral accountability of all people before their Maker.  The rising tide of evil in the world should make it clear that salvation will not come by human power or strength, but by the Word and power of God alone.  God’s people have never been their own saviors, as much as the devil might woo fallen minds to believe otherwise.  On the contrary, whether it is the life of His Word which He spoke into the void to bring forth Creation, or the Word of forgiveness and grace He speaks into the fallen world to bring forth Redemption, it is always God who saves.

 

And if it is God alone who saves by the power of His Word, then the fundamental principle by which we receive that salvation is faith.  Only faith can stand alone in the darkness, surrounded by evil and deadly machinations, and show forth the power of God unto salvation.  Only faith upheld Noah as he stood alone before his evil generation, he and his family saved through the flood which swept multitudes away; only faith upheld Moses before the mightiest empire of his time, so that the people of God might be rescued from slavery and death while Pharoah’s chariots sank into the sea; only faith upheld David before the pagan giant Goliath, the murderous psychosis of King Saul, and the nations which beset him with war from all sides; only faith upheld Elijah before the evil aspirations of Queen Jezebel and her army of pagan priests bent upon his destruction, even as the fire of the Lord came down upon Mt. Carmel to prove only Elijah’s God truly reigns; only faith upheld the Disciples of Jesus while He hung dead upon that Roman Cross, betrayed by the rulers of His own people, but revealed alive again that glorious Easter morning; only faith gathered them together on that first Pentecost, and received from the Lord His Holy Spirit to testify to the eternal life found only in the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.  It is faith alone which receives the Word of God, and the Word of God alone which pours out upon His faithful people the grace and power of His Holy Spirit to drive back the darkness, putting all evil to flight.

 

Thus it is that salvation for mankind must be by grace alone, in Jesus Christ alone.  For there is no other Name given under heaven whereby men must be saved, and there is no other Champion who has stood in the midst of every gathered evil, of death, of hell, and of the all the power of the devil’s horde, and stood alone victorious.  Only Jesus conquered all the enemies of mankind, because only Jesus is the Divine Word of God made Flesh to dwell among us, that we might behold His glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.  Just as there is no other God through whom the whole universe has its existence, so there is no other God through whom the whole cosmos must be saved, and no other God to whom all creation is accountable.  Those who embrace evil have nowhere to run, for they cannot overthrow the Word of God anymore than they can overthrow God Himself, and they cannot escape the reality of their own nature as creatures in a created universe.  Those who stand with God by grace through faith in Christ alone, stand in the awesome power and presence of the King of the Universe, gathered into the yet unseen ranks of a countless and mighty host, all with tongues of flame upon their heads and rivers of living water flowing out from the midst of them.  The darkness of this little world might rise and fall in little times, but the glory of the Lord endures forever, across and beyond all time and space.  The evil in our land is dwarfed and doomed before the majesty of the Eternal King, and the more it rises in impudent arrogance upon our small globe, the more it calls forth the brilliance of Christ and His Spirit poured out upon His faithful people.

 

Be of good cheer, dear Christian, for you do not stand alone in this time of trial.  You are washed in the Blood of Jesus, baptized into His death so that you might rise into His eternal life.  You have been given His Word of Law and Gospel, that by faith in His Word you would receive His forgiveness, life, and salvation, even as you stand in His victory over sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil.  You are surrounded in this grace by a countless host of witnesses, who live forever in the company of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and who cheer you on in this day of valiant struggle.  You are the people saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ and His Word alone, and upon you has been poured out the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, that you might live forever, testify forever, sing forever, in the Name of Jesus.  Rise up, O People of God, for the strength that saves you is not your own, but that of the Almighty Lord of Hosts.  Soli Deo Gloria!  Amen.