46. Rivers of Living Water

Covering John Chapter 7 through 8:30:

As I am now reading the JSV version of John into audio, the Spirit inside of me knows the meaning of what Jesus is saying, that He shares the same knowing of the Father with me. I recognize the words, for they come out from the same Jesus inside my heart. This is the doing of the Spirit of God, being worked in me as I speak the same word that is Christ.

This is Rivers flowing through.

As I shared in the last lesson, I am adding John 6:63 as an equal part of Ruling Verse 3. For that reason, I hope to show how it fits seamlessly with Jesus’ words on the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles. And so, to have the space to do that, let’s get right into Chapter 7.

Defining the World. (Chapter 7) • 7 The world is not able to hate you; it hates Me, however, because I testify concerning it, that its works are evil. – • 10 When His brothers had gone up to the feast, however, Jesus also went up, not visibly, but in secret.

Chapter 7 begins with Jesus’ own brothers not believing Him, but instead, urging Him to act not out from the Father. In response to them, Jesus gives a critical definition of the world.

Definition: The world, all inter-relationships among humans and demons, including all associations and governments, hates the Lord Jesus Christ, for He exposes all of it as contrary to Himself, and thus evil.

Kingdom: Just as Jesus went up to the Feast of Tabernacles in secret, so He has done the same again, being present in His Church, though no one is aware, as He said (see Mathew 24:36).

How We Know. 16 Them Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not of Myself, but of the One who sent Me. • 17 If anyone wants to do His desire, He will know concerning the teaching, whether it is out from God or if I speak from Myself. 18 The one who speaks from himself, seeks his own glory, but the One who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and injustice is not inside of Him.

Covenant: Two questions face every human. First – What do you want? And second – How will you know? Do you speak out from God? Or do you speak out from yourself? Do you seek your own glory? Or do you seek what the Father wants?

A wondrous understanding has come to me out from John Chapters 5 & 6 which would have affected how I wrote those lessons. Yet I insert it now, that it might affect all to come.

What Did Jesus Do? What, exactly, was the mechanism by which Jesus redeemed us? What did He do that saved us? Of truth, I now see that Jesus and the Father conspired together in such a way that resulted, not just in our redemption, but also in our glorification, right from the start.

Jesus honors the Father above all. The Father honors the Son, His Word spoken, above all. Through His life and ministry, Jesus placed what the Father WANTS inside the deepest levels of His Heart – God’s Desire – above any other concern. To the same extent, the Father set Himself to give to Jesus what He WANTS inside the deepest levels of His Heart. The proving of Jesus’ Heart and Desire, and the proving of God’s Heart, what the Father WANTS, happened at the same moment, for Jesus shows us God.

Word and Oath. Then we bring in this line regarding Covenant. – God, intending with full determination to demonstrate to the heirs of promise His unchangeable purpose, He interposed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable deeds [spoken word and sworn oath]… (Hebrews 6:17-18). This demonstration of God is based on Genesis 22:16, said to Abraham – “Because you have done this thing.”

God bound Himself to give to Jesus what Jesus wanted, for Jesus had bound Himself to give to the Father what God wanted. God WANTS a Church in which to dwell; Jesus WANTS you and me with Him inside of God. Word and Oath together. The moment Jesus said, “You have answered Me,” in Psalm 22, He gave us to God and God gave us to Jesus. This is the interaction that saves us; there is no other.

Where Life Is Found. In the last lesson, we saw that everything Jesus said in John’s gospel was found inside of interaction with others, that the words Jesus speaks are personal conversation. But from John 4:23 on (the Father also searches with great desire for such to worship Him), Jesus shares of an interaction between the Father and Him. In fact, this interaction is the dominant one through John’s Gospel.

We will see, now, how this singular point, where God’s Desire and Jesus’ Desire touch, this exchange, wherein the Son honors the Father and the Father the Son, is where LIFE is found, is where our Salvation is found, is where WE are found. We EXIST only inside of and out from that touching together of the Desires of Father and Son.

Everything Seen Wrong. • 24 Do not judge according to the details of outward appearance, but judge the judgment of just approval.”

Everyone on this planet, including almost all Christians, sees everything WRONG. People look at what appears outwardly and imagine they are seeing the definition of reality. The reality in which all live is so different from what humans imagine that it is impossible to express. All live inside of God, for there is no other place. We must have a way to see reality, even while we are still blind. God has given us that way.

Definition: All humans come out from the good-speaking of Jesus every moment. All humans dwell inside of God, inside of Glory, inside of Love. Yet none see it, and in not seeing what is real, humans imagine every false thing as they judge by outward appearance.

Placing Ruling Verse 3. Let’s position Ruling Verse 3, John 7:37-39, and adding 6:63.

Rivers of Spirit flowing out from us is paired with filled with all the fulness of God as the essence of what we are as humans – containing all of God, revealing God to all. Rivers of Spirit flowing out is then paired with casting down the accuser as our ministry of setting creation free. It is also paired with Ruling Verse 8 because it is the Spirit given to us who is the Love of God shed abroad in our hearts.

The Spirit is essential to the Covenant, for it is the ink by which the Words that are Jesus are written on our hearts. It is, in actuality, the Kingdom, for we continue to expect God in power by His Spirit forever. And, of course, the Spirit gives Life to us and anoints the Words of Christ that we speak.

Ruling Verse 3: Rivers of Spirit. • 37 Now, on the last day, the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood [in the moment of complete silence] and shouted loudly, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. • 38 The one who believes into Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Rivers of living water will overflow out from his belly [his womb, his innermost being].” • 39 Now He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those having believed into Him were about to receive; indeed, the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Since we have studied these things before, I need not go through the many meanings. In actuality, however, we have spent little time with verse 39. Verse 39 is that part of Ruling Verse 3 to which we attach John 6:63. Other important verses about the Spirit in us come also as companions to John 6:63.

Fitting in 6:63. Because of the context, John wrote verse 39 with a partial negative. Since Jesus is now glorified and since God has given the Spirit to us, we can freely turn it into a positive statement.

Now He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believe into Him have received; indeed, the Spirit is given because Jesus is glorified. – As Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh benefits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.”

I have always emphasized the rivers of Spirit flowing out. And we always think of the Devoted Spirit in that way. Nonetheless, the Spirit cannot “flow out” without also flowing THROUGH. More than that, verse 39 does contain the critical Truth that the Spirit is GIVEN to us.

Defining “Jesus Glorified.” We also make further note of “because Jesus is glorified.” To understand this line, we consider Ephesians 4:10 and Philippians 2:9. Specifically, that Jesus ascends above all the heavens (is glorified) so that He might FILL His Church. Jesus fills His Church, including you and me, as a Life-giving Spirit (1 Corinthians 15:45). Thus we say that Spirit and Son can never be separated. We also need 1 John 4:13. – By this we know that we dwell inside of Him and He inside of us, out from His Spirit given to us. These are all companion verses.

Since LIFE is knowing God, the Spirit gives Life by causing us to know John 14:20, the Tree of Life. In that day – which is the day the Spirit floods your soul out from Jesus ascended above all, filling you now with His Glory.

Expanded and Personal. On the last day, the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood, in the moment of complete silence, and shouted loudly, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes into Me, as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water, rivers of Spirit, the River of Life, will overflow out from his heart, his belly-womb, his innermost being.” He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those who believe into Him have received; indeed, the Spirit is given to us as our own possession because Jesus is glorified. – As Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the intellectual mind of the flesh benefits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.” – And, “By My Spirit,” says the Lord.

Christ Made Personal: Rivers of Living Water are always flowing out from me, bringing life and healing to all.

Defining the Rule. I am not satisfied with most of what I have written under any “Defining the Rule.” God has given us only one definition concerning His Spirit – the Essence of God touching creation. But we have much instruction on what the Spirit does.

Defining the Rule: The Spirit of God is the Essence of God touching creation. The Spirit given to us is how we know God, for the Spirit enables us to know. Spirit and Word, Spirit and Son cannot ever be separated. To the extent that we thirst for Jesus, that is, desire what God wants, to that extent we drink of Him. And to the extent that we drink of Jesus Himself into our souls, to that extent mighty Rivers of Spirit flow out from us. Because Jesus lives in our hearts through faith, rivers of life are always flowing out from us. This is how we always think because the Spirit causes us to KNOW that God speaks the truth.

Life and Covenant. Life: Life is knowing God; the Spirit causes us to know. Yet the Spirit is given to us only because Jesus connects us with God inside of glory. Our job is to bring Life, that is, the knowledge of God, into all creation. The Spirit is always flowing out from us to cause such Life everywhere we go. 

Covenant: The Spirit is the Energeia of the Covenant, the “ink” forming the Words that are Christ Jesus written upon our hearts. The Spirit is given to us, now part of our humanity, one Spirit with Jesus, because Jesus is glorified. Jesus is glorified because He connects you and me with God.

Speak Christ: To speak, “I am filled with all the fulness of God,” AND, “Rivers of Spirit are always flowing out from me,” is the way we come to know what God means by “human.”

Symmorphosed and Filled! Ruling Verse 1: Though not mentioned directly, the Spirit given to us, the Spirit flooding our souls and flowing out from us, is implied in all three verses. The Spirit is how we love God and is our energeoing with God, making all good. The Spirit flowing out is how we share with Jesus being the image of the Father, and it is the Spirit poured out upon us, now part of our humanity, by which we are already glorified.

Ruling Verse 2: 1 John 4:13 and 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 tell us that the Spirit alone causes us to KNOW. The Spirit enables us to believe that Jesus lives in our hearts and to know that we are rooted inside of Love. To comprehend God together means that the entire fellowship must be immersed inside the Spirit. The Spirit in our hearts is the Love of Jesus, and the Spirit causes us to know that we are FILLED with all of God.

From Rivers to Intimacy. Ruling Verse 3: “Not by might (inward fortitude) nor by power (outward strength), but by My Spirit,” says the Lord (Zechariah 4:6). The intellectual mind of the flesh “figuring it out” is the only alternative to rivers of Spirit pouring through our souls. Ruling Verses 3 and 2 are paired first as the definition of how we are, as humans, the visibility of God.

Ruling Verse 4: It is the Spirit flowing out that accomplishes all things coming through our faith in God inside of all Victory. “Thy Kingdom come” is the Spirit causing all to know. Ruling Verses 3 and 4 are paired second as the cause of the Kingdom.

Ruling Verse 5: The beginning of our union with Christ, the moment we are born again, is that our spirits become one Spirit with Jesus, for He gives His Spirit to us. Our “first love” (Revelation 2:4) is our knowing of union with Jesus; it is the Spirit shed abroad in our hearts (see Romans 5:5).

From Boldness to Love. Ruling Verse 6: The Spirit given to us is our apprehension of, and enables us to apprehend, everything that is God, especially making us part of the fellowship of Father and Son. Without the Spirit flooding our souls, we could not boldly approach God. Those who refuse the Spirit are fearful and unbelieving.

Ruling Verse 7: The jeopardy of the Christian life begins with the connection between drinking of Jesus and being filled with the Spirit, the Spirit flooding our human souls. The issue of Hebrews 3 & 4 and Numbers 13 & 14 is the Confidence that comes only out from the overflowing of the Spirit.

Ruling Verse 8: Inwardly, – The love of God has already been shed abroad inside of our hearts through the Devoted Spirit, the One already given freely to us (Romans 5:5). Then outwardly, the Spirit alone accomplishes Love.

The Fire and the Glory. Ruling Verse 9: The great dividing line begins in-between those who refuse the Spirit and draw back and those who drink freely of the Spirit that they might go on to KNOW the Lord. More than that, those who are the ministry of Christ setting creation free (see Judges 7, choosing the 300) are those who drink of the Spirit, not just for blessing but for war, for their eyes are set upon the Church and her glory.

Ruling Verse 10: The Spirit alone gives Life; the Spirit alone causes us to know God. The Spirit is a gift given freely to us, now belonging to us, yet that Spirit must be received with Desire. The Spirit causes us to see Jesus inside of us – “In that Day,” which is the day the Spirit floods our souls out from Jesus ascended above all to fill us with His glory. Jesus glorified is Jesus in our hearts by the outpoured Spirit.

The Kingdom as Father Made Known. Kingdom: The Devoted Spirit of God, flowing out from our bellies, is the CAUSE of all that is Kingdom. Thus we know that our own hearts, personally and together, shape all things to come, even the unfolding of the ages. In the Kingdom, no human force of any kind is ever considered, but all Trust is given to the Spirit to accomplish all.

The Form for God through Jesus: We also, inside of one Spirit, were immersed into one body, and have all been given one Spirit to drink. – Inside of Jesus, you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God inside the sphere of Spirit. The Spirit is TRUST in God to the extent of seeing only God and His purpose in all things. To worship God together, shared together, inside of Spirit and Truth, is our inheritance forever. Father at Home becomes the outflowing River of Life.

The Dividing Line. I taught Ruling Verse 3 right from the start, yet after all these years, I finally feel that I somehow comprehend it, what it means and where it fits. I am also deeply pleased that this layout is more explanatory, rather than the more “expressiveness” of some of the layouts of Ruling Verse Comments I have already done. I hope that will continue.

More than that, adding John 6:63 also allows us to bring in the dividing line that exists so strongly in Ruling Verses 9 and 7 especially, the line of jeopardy. It’s in the mind where the battle takes place, for it’s either the mind of the Spirit outpoured or it is the mind of the flesh profiting nothing. You might have noticed that an additional “definition” of the Spirit crept into the wording – the Spirit is TRUST in God.

Writing the Covenant. (Chapter 8) • 6 But Jesus, having stooped down, began writing on the ground with His finger. …He said to them, “The one who is unerring and faultless among you, let him cast the first stone at her.” – 8 Stooping down again, He continued to write on the ground. 9 …Being exposed in their own consciousness, they began to go away… – 11 Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on, sin no more.”

As I read this out loud into audio I saw clearly what Jesus meant by stooping down to write upon the ground. Thus I added this line as a Gospel Verse. Here is what Jesus meant. – “Clearly you are a letter of Christ, for I am writing Myself upon your hearts of flesh, the soil of the ground. I humble Myself, even twice, that I might make your hearts of flesh to be My Word fulfilled.”

Twice He Stooped. This Flow of Gospel Word enables us to see all the connections of God. Jesus’ finger writing on the dirt, humbling Himself twice, is the work of the Spirit in our hearts, causing us to know God. This action of Jesus comes immediately after speaking Rivers of Spirit flowing out. God’s Word is written upon our hearts of flesh, the soil of the earth. Jesus humbled Himself first to reveal the Father, and He humbled Himself second to dwell inside our hearts, to be planted in the earth. Thus we see that John 12:24 is not an isolated thought, but the same Flow.

Covenant: The Covenant is the Words that are Jesus written upon our hearts of flesh, the soil of the earth. Those Words are Spirit and they are Life. Jesus humbled Himself that He might be that connection of Spirit Word between God and us.

The Light of Life. • 12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to those [who heard], saying, “I am the light of the world-cosmos; the one accompanying Me shall not walk in the darkness [of dishonesty and blindness], but will possess the light of life.”

In Patterns of Home, “Capturing Light” corresponds with Ruling Verse 3. Yet we are now seeing so far beyond what we have known.

The Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters (our human souls); God said, “Let there be Light” (the entrance of Jesus into us, planted in our hearts) – Genesis 1:2-3. Light is seeing; seeing is knowing what is. The entrance of Jesus causes human consciousness first, the knowing of ourselves, and consciousness of God-with-us second, the knowing of the Father, that is, “the Light of Life.”

The Spirit Given to Us. You see in Genesis 1 that the Spirit is on our side of things first, before God speaks Christ as Life and Light into us. Apart from the Spirit first flooding our souls, we would not see or hear or receive or know. The Spirit given to us is the immediate and absolute result of Jesus glorified. The Spirit given to us comes even before the entrance of Word, Word by which we are conceived of God.

Definition: Light is seeing; seeing is knowing what is. The entrance of Jesus causes human consciousness first, the knowing of ourselves, and consciousness of God-with-us second, the knowing of the Father, that is, “the Light of Life.” Darkness, then, is one thing only – REFUSING to acknowledge the Lord Jesus as our all already. The Spirit given to us is the entrance of Light.

Jesus Defining Himself. • Jesus answered, “From the start, I have been speaking to you, 26 and I have many things to say and to judge concerning you; but the One who sent Me is true; and what I have heard in His presence are the things I speak into the world-cosmos.”  27 But because they did not know that the Father was speaking to them, • 28 Jesus said to them, “When you have raised high the Son of Man, then you will know that I Am, and that I do nothing out from Myself. Instead I speak as the Father has taught Me. 29 The One who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him.”

These are profound definitions of the relationship between Jesus and the Father, the same relationship He then becomes as He is glorified inside of us.

Made Like Jesus. I have laid out and begun to write the four lessons for First, Second, & Third John. As I did so, I saw that the topic of John’s letters is how we are made like Jesus in relationship with the Father first, and in loving one another second. John begins his discussion by placing us right at the junction, the touching point, of the fellowship between Father and Son. And in doing so, John is reaching back to everything he included in his gospel concerning that relationship, that we are to know the Father in just the same way that Jesus knows the Father.

This is what Jesus glorified means. And the more I think about what to write next, the more I see that this meaning FILLS all that John writes, a meaning I have never before beheld.

Well-Pleasing. Jesus is expressing the immediate connection between God’s thoughts concerning all things, and His own essence, that He is the speaking of those thoughts. Jesus “hears” the Father and then speaks those Words. Jesus does not speak of Himself, but only the Father’s Words. We know that, because He is lifted up above all, now glorified inside of us.

The relationship, then, between “God with Me” and “well-pleasing” is the same as Philippians 2:12-13. – Even as you have always submitted to what you have heard… accomplish your salvation to full completion in fear and trembling, for God is the present and active energeoing inside of you, both to desire and to energeo for the sake of good pleasure and satisfaction.

The Central Meaning of John’s Gospel. Speak Christ: John’s letters teach us that being made like Jesus begins with sharing with Jesus the same relationship He enjoys with the Father. It is God who energeoes His Desire inside of us (see Philippians 2:12-13). The same Word that is Jesus, God’s thoughts now spoken, is also in our hearts and in our mouths, this Word of Christ that we speak (see Romans 10:8-10).

John 14:20 and 17:3, the Tree of Life and Knowing God, remain the central meaning of John’s Gospel. Yet now John 12:24, Jesus planted in our hearts, is growing in its place in the meaning of everything John writes. Along with that wonder, the fact that Jesus stooped twice, humbled Himself twice, to write Himself upon our hearts, confirms to us that the Ekenosis is also twice, God through Jesus first, and God through us, His Church, second.

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, You have been so gracious to us, for You have given to us Your own Devoted Spirit, freely outpoured into our souls, that we might KNOW you in all confidence and Trust. And Father, we know and confess that, as we drink of Jesus, so Your Spirit flows out from our bellies everywhere we go, setting creation free, bringing life and healing to all.
 
“Father, even as we are seated now upon Your Mercy, so we direct the Flow of our shared Spirit into all the Church, into the lives of our brethren throughout all the heavens and in every land on earth. Separate Your Church unto Yourself, Oh God, now, in the hour of Your appearing, in all Victory made visible, even as we dwell always inside of Jesus’ name.”