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Î Ë E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
So Jesu s says in the 14th chapter of John: “ I will pray the F ath e r and He shall give you ano th er Com forter, th a t He may abide w ith you forever.” And, again, “He dwelleth w ith you, and shall be in you.” There is a g reat fundam ental tru th to be learned here, The Holy Spirit is given immediately upon the confes sion and reception of Christ as Saviour and Lord. Jesus is the gift of God. When He is received, the Spirit of God comes to tak e possession of the body of th e believer, and to im p art the life of th e Lord Jesus. Since the day of Pentecost, th is has been tru e of believers, and th is expe rience is different from the experience of any of th e Old T estam ent saints, and of th e disciples before Christ’s resu rrec tion. We need never pray for th e Holy Spirit to come, fo r He is here already. Immediately upon receiving Christ, the Holy Spirit takes possession of the body of the believer and makes it a temple (1 Cor. 3 :1 6 ). « K n o w y e n o t t h a t y e a r e t h e te m p le o f G o d , a n d t h a t t h e S p ir it o f G o d d w e lle th i n y o u ? ” (Also, 1 Cor. 6:19, 20). He also seals the believer w ith the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4 :3 0 ). « A n d g r ie v e n o t t h e H o ly S p ir it o f G o d , w h e r e b y y e a r e s e a le d u n to t h e d a y o f re d e m p tio n .” So the Holy Spirit becomes to the believer the w ater of life, th e satisfying portion. If the Christian life is normal, th ere flows ou t from the life of the be liever, th e life of Christ. The hindering can only be by the believer himself. The secret of failure in the Christian life is found in the refusal to su rrender the will to the Lord, so th a t the Spirit H im self may occupy and control th e life. It. was when P ete r was filled w ith the Holy Spirit th a t the power of the life of Christ was manifested in his preach ing. I t was when P au l was filled w ith the Spirit th a t there was manifested the
The T h irst fo r Life. The sentence of death is w ritten in onr members. Men are conscious of the unreality of this life. D eath’s appalling gloom always overshadows them. When men saw Jesus they were conscious th a t He had something which they had not and which they craved. When men saw Paul, they were conscious th a t they lacked some thing which he had. Every tru e Christian has something th a t the poor sinners have not and every Christian should so live as to manifest it, th a t sinners, perceiving it, may desire to know w hat it is; th a t something which brings peace and rest and joy; th a t something which transform s human life by im parting a new life. To th e woman at the well Jesus said: « I f t h o u h u e w e s t t h e g i f t o f G o d a n d w h o i t is t h a t s a i t h t o th e e , G iv e m e to d r in k ; th o u w o u ld e s t h a v e a s k e d o f h im , a n d h e w o u ld h a v e g iv e n t h e e liv in g w a te r .” ( J o h n 4 :1 0 .) The w ater of life, then, was to be had for th e asking, but since His death and resurrection it may be had by tak ing or receiving. It is the g ift of God, and almost the last message w rit ten by John is th e invitation to “Take the w ater of life freely” (Rev. 22 :17 ). The Testimony Concerning th e Source of th e W ater of lif e . In the 38th a n d '3 9 th verses Jesus enum erates a g reat tru th concerning the Holy Spirit. In th e first place, He shows us th a t the Holy Spirit Himself is the w ater of life which Jesus gives. W ater is, in the Scripture, a type of th e Holy Spirit. (John 10:10.) “ I nm c o m e t h a t th e y m i g h t h a v e lif e , a n d t h a t t h e y m i g h t h a v e i t m o r e a b u n d a n tly .” The Holy Spirit was in the world from th e beginning. Under the old dis pensation He manifested His power by coming upon people; bu t now th e Lord gives the promise of a new relationship for the Holy Spirit. He is to be given in a new sense. He is to be given as the indwelling, abiding One, to im part to believers th e life of Christ.
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