THE INHERITANCE
[p. 221] A WELL OF WATER IN THE BELIEVER
John 4: 10 - 14; 7: 37 - 39; Romans 8: 9 - 11
There was in the ministry of Christ down here a peculiar suitability to the persons to whom the things spoken were addressed. He always said and did, what is not common with us, the right thing in the right place. We may often have a good word, but we sometimes put that good word in the wrong place. Hence it is not only the goodness of the things spoken that marked Christ’s ministry, but their appropriateness to the case. We may not always be able to discern this at first sight, but the more you become acquainted with divine things the more you see it.
One may often find a difficulty in the discernment of Scripture, but I have come to the conclusion that such a difficulty only proves that I am not up to the scripture. People want every difficulty removed, but much depends upon our spiritual state. As we have spiritual understanding we not only apprehend the perfectness and goodness of all that the Lord spoke, but the appropriateness of what He said in point of time and person. When He spoke to the woman of Samaria, what He said was appropriate to the time and the person. The same thing would not perhaps have been appropriate to Nicodemus. The appropriateness is in this, that in speaking as He did to such a woman, the Lord indicated that in the grace of God everything in man was to be completely new. On the other hand, Nicodemus was a teacher in Israel, and had the same things been said to him they might have conveyed the idea of patching up man; but much could not be made out of the woman of Samaria, and if she was taken up in the grace of God, everything must be new. The Lord brings in the idea of a well of water, you have a new spring, and hence a new person. If there [p. 222] is a new spring morally, you have a new person, you could not have a new man without a new spring; and the new man is said to be “created after God in righteousness and holiness of truth”. Now you have a different man because the spring is different. So in regard to the woman, there was no idea of improving the woman, but she was to be completely new because the spring in her was new. It is a wonderful thing that God can so work as that there should be a completely new spring in man. You get the idea in Romans 8: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness”, “the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”. It is the water that Christ gives, but the water is a spring in us. There is a spring in every man, which regulates his conduct, bearing and speech. If a new spring can be communicated to any man, you must of necessity have a new man.
My purpose is to speak a little bit about the Spirit as spring in the believer. A thought somewhat akin is found in John 7: “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”. Evidently the thought in that passage is of a spring in the believer, because you could not otherwise have rivers of living water flowing out. It is a different thought from that in chapter 4, and the difference I will try and make plain presently. I only refer to it because it indicates the existence of a new spring.
I have tried in the previous lectures to follow on the line of the Spirit. We had the Spirit as the seal of righteousness; then as the power of salvation; and in the last we had the baptism of the Spirit. It is certain that the Spirit is the seal of righteousness, because circumcision is involved in the Spirit, there is the putting off the body of the flesh. Hence the [p. 223] Spirit is the seal of righteousness as being the power that sets itself against the flesh. It is evident also that salvation, which is in the confession of Christ as Lord, to be effective must be in the Holy Spirit. There can be no salvation now outside the sphere of the Holy Spirit, salvation is in the Spirit, in anticipation of the coming of the Lord. Then I spoke last time of what was involved in the Lamb of God. Christ was recognised in that way by John the baptist; and the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world, that is, by the introduction of God into it; and on the other hand, He baptises with the Holy Spirit, to bring to pass here on earth the life of God in man. That is, man is taken possession of by the Spirit, and the effect is, to bring to pass in man morally the life of God; at the same time, believers are baptised by one Spirit into one body.
I want now to speak of the Spirit as a spring in the believer. You will find very commonly through John’s gospel two symbols presented: one is bread, and the other, water — what you may call the necessaries of life. No man can live without the two, except perhaps in an artificial kind of way. I think you will find that Scripture connects the thought of bread with Christ, and water with the Spirit. The Lord says in John 6, “I am that bread of life”. He does not, that I remember, speak of Himself as the water of life. I have no doubt that the idea of bread as food is connected with Christ; and on the other hand, that of water with the Spirit. The Spirit is the water of life, and Christ the bread of life. The difference is simple. Bread in Scripture is emblematical of grace, and all grace is presented to us in Christ. Grace is not presented in the Spirit. You would not speak about the Spirit being manna. The children of Israel had manna, and water from the smitten rock. The water was, I suppose, a type of the Spirit, and the manna, of Christ. The Spirit has not become incarnate;
[p. 224] the Son became incarnate, and was the witness and expression of divine grace down here. Divine grace is presented to us in Christ, the manna has that character. I look upon the manna as typifying daily grace for daily need. Now in connection with that you get appropriation, because, looked at in that light, Christ is an Object to us. All the grace of God is presented to us in Him. He is “the living bread which came down from heaven”; and you appropriate bread. We all appropriate the bread of this life, and if we did not we should die; we want bread for the sustenance of life, bread is within our reach; and so it is in regard to Christ. As bread He does not dwell within us, but God has been pleased to place the bread within our reach. We practically live by the grace which has been expressed to us in Christ. All our knowledge of God has been formed in that way. If we did not enter into the grace which has been presented to us in Christ, we could never have a thought of praise. In the case of the lepers who met the Lord, there were ten healed, but only one came back to Jesus and glorified God. He was affected by the grace which had been presented to him in Christ. The same is true with all who appreciate the grace that has been presented to us. Through the glad tidings that are presented to us by the grace of God we are “justified freely ... through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”. “Repentance and remission of sins” are preached to us in Christ’s name. If we appropriate what is presented to us in Christ, we return and glorify God, like the leper. The bread is symbolic of the grace presented in the Son of God; and the Spirit is the living spring of water in the believer. I will take up the latter thought in John 4 for a moment.
You will notice that the water in John 4 is connected with the Son of God come down; while the Spirit in John 7 is connected with Jesus gone up. You cannot [p. 225] understand the various ways in which the Spirit is spoken of, if you do not see each in its proper connection. I will say a word or two in connection with the first thought. You will observe how the Lord addresses the woman of Samaria. He says, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water”. It was God come down in love to man. Then the Lord says further to her, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst”, etc. He first spoke of the gift of God; and then about Himself giving. It was none other than God come down to give. All hangs upon what we get in the preceding chapter, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son”. The woman thought no more of the Lord than as of a Jew, and was surprised at His asking drink of her; but the Lord, conscious of who He was, says, “If thou knewest the gift of God”. He would give the living water. The living water depends on the apprehension of the Son. If people are indifferent to the testimony of God’s love, they will not get living water. I cannot conceive anybody having living water from God if indifferent to the love of God. The living water is given to those who have received the testimony of God’s love. You cannot separate the fourth from the third chapter; the third is God’s testimony, and the fourth is the gift of the Spirit to those who have received that testimony; and therefore the Lord says, “If thou knewest the gift of God”. The object of it is to place us in correspondence to the Son of God. There is such a thing as the springing up of the well. I believe there are three steps in the springing up of the Spirit in the believer, bringing us into accord practically with Christ. The first is in righteousness, the second in holiness, and the third unto eternal life. There is a certain way which leads [p. 226] to everlasting life, and the Spirit conducts us along that road.
I refer to Romans 6 because it tends to impress this. In verse 18 we have, “Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness”. Then in the following verse, “Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness”. Mark the word ‘holiness’. Then in verse 22, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your [p. 230] fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life”. I think it is clear from that passage that there are three steps. The Spirit of God does not refer there to heaven, but to saints here upon the earth. It is an end to which the Spirit of God is springing up in the believer — “the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life”. Romans puts it, “the end eternal life”. I begin with the first of the three steps. The beginning of the Spirit springing up in the believer is in righteousness. The idea to me is this, that the well of water is the Spirit of Christ in the believer, and the object is to form him in correspondence to Christ, so that he may never thirst. In speaking about correspondence to Christ in righteousness, it is because He is “the righteous one”. In the New Testament Christ is spoken of as the righteous One a number of times. The apostle Paul speaks about Him as righteous, and John and Peter speak of Him as the righteous One. You will recall a passage or two in the epistle of John — “Jesus Christ the righteous”. When the well of water springs up, it is in the first instance to place us in correspondence in righteousness to the righteous One. “He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous”. The well of water is springing up, and we practise righteousness, and are in that sense placed in correspondence to the righteous One. It is the proof and evidence that the Spirit is springing up. Do you understand what righteousness means?
[p. 227] Righteousness is the maintenance in integrity of every established relationship. That has come out in Christ, and is brought to pass in us by the springing up of the Spirit. That will enable you to understand Romans 8: 10: “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness”. It brings us to practical righteousness, that is, to correspondence to Christ. We are righteous even as Christ is righteous. It is a remarkable result to be brought to pass in one who has been sinful and lawless in this world. There are many ordered relationships in which the Christian is placed, and first of all is his relationship to God; then there is relationship to Christ, and to one another as Christians; all are established relationships, and have their place for us as children of God — “Every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him”. We have also many established relationships in the world, ordered by God, and every relationship in which a Christian is set has to be maintained in its integrity; and I think, too, there are providential relationships which God has allowed, and we have to maintain in them practical righteousness. That is the effect of the springing up of the Spirit; and there it is you get a contrast between an unconverted and a converted man. An unconverted man may seek to maintain the natural relationships down here, as of husband or son, but he ignores the first of all relationships, that is, relationship to God. Many a man would be content with carrying out in a way the second table of the law, and ignore the first. A Unitarian might carry out the second table of the law, but that he disregards the first is certain. I only speak of this because it is the first principle of the springing up of the Spirit. “If Christ be in you”. The first principle of correspondence to Christ is righteousness.
But if you are seeking by the Spirit to maintain [p. 228] righteousness you go a point further, and that is, “You have your fruit unto holiness”. Holiness is the second point of correspondence to Christ. Christ is the Holy One. Peter said to the Jews, “But ye denied the Holy One and the Just”. The springing up of the Spirit in the believer is to bring him into correspondence to the holy One. And this is brought about by the Spirit making us acquainted with the love of God. Holiness can only be reached in the knowledge of the love of God. Many Christians are occupied with pursuing holiness, but the more impressed I am with the love of God, the more holiness is promoted in me. Christ is the expression of that love. There is no other legitimate way of reaching holiness. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us”. I think the Holy Spirit is bent upon forming our hearts in the holy love of God. I believe that to be the true office of the Holy Spirit in the believer. The well of water springing up into everlasting life thus brings about correspondence to Christ in righteousness and holiness. That is, you are able not only to discern the bearing of outward acts and conduct, but to discern spirits. Having come to righteousness, we can judge external things in the world, but righteousness does not enable you to judge spirits. But by holiness you can form a judgment of spirits, which is a much deeper thing; there would be then no hankering after things here, but a shrinking from things that are impure and unclean.
The practical result of correspondence to Christ in holiness is that there is a shrinking from what you could not perceive as a mere question of righteousness. That is a great point. The pathway through this world must have been very painful to Christ, because He not simply had to judge of external conduct, but His spirit must have recoiled from a great many things that He had to meet; for the holiness of God was [p. 229] there. I do not doubt that for the Christian who is instructed in the knowledge of God and pursuing holiness, the same is the practical working of holiness. It is a quality that cannot be imitated, and which can only be brought about in us by the knowledge of God in His own blessed nature; and I defy any one really to reach holiness in any other way. I quite admit you get the injunction to be holy because God is holy, but the point is how are we to carry out the injunction? When we become partakers of the nature of God, a great many things are refused which at one time might have passed muster. It makes a vast difference in us as to the things we are prepared to accept or refuse. You prove things which are more excellent, as in Philippians 1: 10, “That ye may prove things that are excellent”, that is, things which differ.
Now, I will say one word about the third step — the well of water springs up into everlasting life, which is the climax. It brings us to eternal life because Christ is eternal life. It is not the Spirit’s office to take us to heaven; Christ does that. To put it in very simple language, the Spirit is to conduct us to Christ as and where Christ is. I think Christ can, in a sense, come in sympathy and care to us where we are. The apostle Paul entered into a variety of difficulties down here, and the Lord came to him; and the Lord can come to us in the way of sympathy. But the work of the Spirit is to conduct us to Christ — through the fellowship of His death — that we may reach Christ as He is on the other side of death. He can make us conscious that we are risen with Him, so as to fulfil, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee”.
I do not want to say more in connection with the springing up of the Spirit in the believer. The first point is righteousness, then holiness, and finally eternal life. So the apostle puts it, “Ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life”. It is as clear as anything can be, that if you want to reach eternal life you must be conducted to Christ. To put it in the language of the apostle John, “... We are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life”. We are conscious of having reached Him by the Spirit.
I would like you to ponder over the line by which the Spirit leads us into practical correspondence to Christ — the righteous One, the holy One and eternal life.
I will just say a few words on chapter 7: 37. My idea, as I said, is this, that the living water in John 4 is connected with the Son of God, that is, the One who has come down to reveal divine love. The Spirit in John 7 is connected with Jesus gone up. The point in chapter 7 is this, that God has been pleased to bring in a new Head for man — that, I suppose, is the idea of Jesus glorified. The grace of God and the free gift in grace are by one Man, Jesus Christ. Man lost a head, and God has brought in a Head for man. I may say — for every man. That is presented in God’s testimony to man here. God has placed Christ in that relation to every man — as the Head of every man. The free gift in grace is by Him. The Christian is conscious of the meaning of Jesus glorified, and out of his belly flow rivers of living water. Knowing Him as the second Man, and His relation to all men by the Spirit results in the living water flowing out. I could not tell men a more profound truth than that God has found a Head for man; and in that Head is presented the free gift of God to all men. Everybody ought to be delighted with the thought of the Head. Man’s natural head died in sin, but God has provided another Head, and in that Head is presented God’s grace. The Spirit is here and speaks through men. He makes us delighted with the Head, and out of our belly flow rivers of living water. Most will remember [p. 231] the commission in the last chapter of the Gospel of Luke. All was in the name of the risen Christ, the last Adam and the second man. God has provided a Head for every man, and the Spirit in the believer is the witness of it.