“The thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10
The promise of the outpouring of the Spirit, as mentioned in the book of Joel, was an imperative to the church being born the day of Pentecost. It was the ushering in of fathomless blessing from heaven, as the kingdom of God expanded throughout the then known world. The promise that God made through the prophet, reiterated by the mouth of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, speaks of the moving of the Spirit in a powerful way, as a powerful stream, even river of water. That living water was the very life of God moving upon human hearts of those who believed in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The magnitude of that outpouring was worldwide, and individually, overwhelming in its effect and purpose.
Why did God the Father, in the accomplishment of His promise, decide that the outpouring should be poured out in such a manner, and to such an extent, on the day of Pentecost? The time had come for a “breaking up,” and a “breaking through,” the powers of darkness that had seemed to have overwhelmed all believers on the day of Christ’s crucifixion. Although Christ’s resurrection and reappearance, for some time thereafter, had a certain encouraging effect on the believers, specifically the disciples, there was a greater need, that for a demonstration of the power of God upon and IN the believers. This Spirit of God would come in His fulness, announced by the noise of a mighty rushing wind, and the appearance of tongues of fire upon every disciple. Not only was there the demonstration of the power of God, but also, the holiness of God. There would not only be the manifestation of God as in the days of Moses and Solomon, a revelation seen from afar, but now it would be revealed to every believer. The Spirit of Christ, sent by the Father, had now been given to rest upon, and to indwell the believer, so that Christ’s victorious life would be revealed and manifested in the church. What does this mean for the individual believer today? The answer resides in Paul’s epistles.
Paul writes to the Roman believers, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (6:3,4) He writes to the Corinthians, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:13) The baptism of the believer into Jesus Christ by the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and in this present day, by the new birth, is one where, in living union with Christ, he is to live by the faith of the Son of God, abiding in His life, and living wholly unto Him. What is required for this? What is it in this act and finished work of baptism, that is essential to grasp if one is to live victoriously? With the believer’s identification in Christ’s death, has come the identification in His resurrection. This involves power, the very power of the Spirit that anointed and filled Christ, and by Whom He endured the cross. Here is no small measure of power, but a power for every need, great and small. It took power to speak the words of God to the unbelieving world of Jesus’ day, Paul’s day, and our own. It took power to overcome the onslaught of spiritual darkness then as now. Jesus not only spoke of the Spirit of God being like a spring, but a river. Rivers of living water are poured into us, to be poured out to the world.
Dear Father, Fill us to overflowing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.