Greetings Group,

Jesus made a statement concerning all those who believe in Him in John the 7th chapter. It reads as follows.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

What does it mean for "living water" to flow from your belly (your innermost being)? Living water simply means water that gives life. It is plain from the scriptures that the "water" has to do with words. Paul tells us in Ephesisans that Jesus gave Himself for a church that would be washed by the washing of water by the word. In John the 6th chapter Jesus tells us that His words are spirit and they are life. So how do we get to the point that our words are words of life? We know that out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks. We also know from the book of James that our tongues, which are full of deadly poison, no man can tame. It seems like a hopeless dilemma until we find that we can purify our hearts through obedience to the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. When our hearts are purified then we will not spew out the poison of serpents, but the words of life.

We see an example of this in two of the times that Israel were crying for water in the desert. The 1st time was after God had parted the Red Sea for them.
Ex. 15:23 And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
15:24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?
15:25 And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet:

The name Marah means bitter. The tree that was cast into the waters to make the bitter waters sweet was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was "cut down" on Mt. Calvary in order that we might have life. Adam made the water bitter but Jesus made it a river of life.

The next example we see is when Moses spoke to the rock because of the chiding of Israel in Ex. 17:5-7. This rock also is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The third example is when Moses struck the rock in the book of Numbers.

Num. 20:7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: 20:9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.20:13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

The name Meribah means strife. We see in Ex. 17 that when the tree was cut down , the name of the place was called Marah (bitterness). When the rock was struck, the name of the place was called Meribah (strife). When Jesus was cut down and when He was stricken on the cross, what happened?

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Not only did this happen naturally on the cross, but when Jesus was cut down and struck with the words of men, He gave us an example of how we should react?

1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
2:23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;

Jesus always spoke words of life. When we are tried, we get the opportunity to see whats in our heart. When we look into the word of God, we get to see the reflection of whats in our heart. When someone crosses us, we get to see if out of our innermost being flow words of life or words of death. Remember our two names in the examples of Isreal, bitternness and strife. Look what James says about our tongue and how we should speak.

James3:10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
3:11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
3:12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
3:13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

May the Lord grant us the mercy and the grace to become wells of salvation.
Peace

[chette777]

You need to divide rightly and you need to put the verse back in context of it's preveious and following verse.

otherwise you are teaching something that is not in context. it may be applicable topic but no truth in the context. Cults do this all the time.

Originally Posted by chette777

You need to divide rightly and you need to put the verse back in context of it's preveious and following verse.

otherwise you are teaching something that is not in context. it may be applicable topic but no truth in the context. Cults do this all the time.

Chette,

I'm not sure which verse you are talking about. Showw me what you mean.

Originally Posted by gophgetter

Greetings Group,

Jesus made a statement concerning all those who believe in Him in John the 7th chapter. It reads as follows.

John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

What does it mean for "living water" to flow from your belly (your innermost being)? Living water simply means water that gives life. It is plain from the scriptures that the "water" has to do with words. Paul tells us in Ephesisans that Jesus gave Himself for a church that would be washed by the washing of water by the word. In John the 6th chapter Jesus tells us that His words are spirit and they are life. So how do we get to the point that our words are words of life? We know that out of the abundance of the heart our mouth speaks. We also know from the book of James that our tongues, which are full of deadly poison, no man can tame. It seems like a hopeless dilemma until we find that we can purify our hearts through obedience to the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. When our hearts are purified then we will not spew out the poison of serpents, but the words of life.



May the Lord grant us the mercy and the grace to become wells of salvation.
Peace

Amen! Living water is a beautiful topic! I was just reading in the original 1611 AV about " a well of springing water" which is the same as a "well of living water" according to the marginal notes and the underlying Hebrew.

Genesis 26:19 And Isaacs seruants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

Marginal note: Hebr. living.


http://dewey.library.upenn.edu/sceti...gePosition=103

It is wonderful that living water is like "springing water" from a well. If you have ever seen a "spring" which is a natural flow of water from the ground you can see how it continually flows and is ever fresh.


God bless,
Joe