Lesson 3–3: The Promise—Spirituality

p. 143Lesson 3–3: The Promise—Spirituality

Jeremiah 17:5–10 John 7:3–39

The only way any Christian can run his race and expect to win is by plugging in to the energizing power of God p. 144the Holy Spirit. There is a great deal of confusion concerning the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit. This mostly comes from the English translation of Ephesians 5:18, which reads “be filled with the Spirit.” This gives the impression that we are being filled with more of the Spirit, as if He is the content of the filling. A much better translation is that we are “filled by” or “by means of the Holy Spirit.” This correctly shows the Spirit to be the agent by whom we are filled. When we are filled by the Spirit, the Holy Spirit leads us into conformity to Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:14; 2 Cor. 3:17–18).

Earlier in Ephesians 3:14–19, Paul prays that we might be strengthened by the indwelling Spirit “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that [this is a purpose clause] you may be filled [with] all the fullness of God.” This “fullness” is nothing less than the life of Christ Himself (Col. 1:19). When we are filled by means of the Holy Spirit, we are energized with the new, resurrection life of Christ (Rom. 5:10; 6:4; 7:6; 8:11). When we allow the Spirit to infuse us with the life of Christ, our sin nature is rendered inoperable (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 5:16; 1 John 3:6), and we are able to run toward the goal.

The evidence of the filling of the Spirit will be the fruit of the Spirit in the believer’s life (Gal. 5:22–23). When we are not filled by the Spirit, our flesh is in control, and we are 100% out of commission as far as God is concerned. Apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit, there is no growth, no service, no blessing, no reward. Satan’s cosmic system opposes spirituality—the filling of the Holy Spirit—at every turn. The enemy does not want us to understand the simplicity of God’s promise of power!

“Thus says the LORD, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant.’” (Jer. 17:5–6)

Jeremiah vividly describes the curse that comes with confidence in human strength. Trying to solve the problems of life by relying on human good, human intellect, human technology, human strength, is stepping outside the power sphere of God. If we think we can fight the spiritual battle in human strength, we are dead wrong.

When we discount God and turn our backs on the source of all goodness, all truth, all knowledge, all peace, we guarantee misery for ourselves. Any person or any nation who places faith in human strength will be cursed, and no one can blame God, because the curse is self-induced.

The result of reliance on human strength is isolation and spiritual dryness. Life will be unbearably harsh and utterly fruitless. The one who chooses this path will not see prosperity, the blessings of God. When we are where God wants us to be, we receive maximum blessing, because that is the place where God determined from eternity past to drop our supplies. If we are not receiving blessings, it is because the blessings are being dropped for us from the grace of God, but we are somewhere else. We have been distracted, misplaced, and are at the wrong place at the wrong time. God has promised to do everything necessary to make us great in His plan. If we want to do things our way, His prosperity will be there, but we will never see it.

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes;

p. 145But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit." (Jer. 17:7–8) On the other hand, if we realize that we are powerless and that only in divine strength can we stand, then God declares us blessed. “Trust” is batach, the Hebrew word for wrestling faith. To trust in the Lord is to fight our battles relying on divine power. We humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and cast our cares on Him, p. 146because He cares for us (1 Pet. 5:7). We take our problems, our pressures, our adversities and body slam them on the Lord, remembering that the battle is His (1 Sam. 17:47).

To illustrate the blessing of trust in the Lord, Jeremiah describes a desert where the river is the only source of life. The river is a picture of God the Holy Spirit. Everything outside the bounds of the river is nonproductive. But by the river a glorious tree is planted; this fruit tree is a picture of the believer living by faith. The roots of the tree reach toward the river, illustrating the supply system that comes through spiritual growth. As the invisible root system grows, so does the tree, but the root system is always greater than the tree—there is more underground than there is aboveground. The supply system is invisible; the production is visible. For the Christian, inner character and greatness will always be more than that which is visible to other people.

The heat in Jeremiah 17:8 is a picture of testing, crisis, temptation; the year of drought refers to extended times of pressure. The green leaves are proof of the strength and health of the tree. The maturing believer will be spiritually strong, healthy, and vibrant in spite of testing. He will not only not be anxious or worried, but will also not cease to yield fruit.

Anxiety—worry—and divine production cannot coexist. Divine production requires the filling of the Holy Spirit. We are either controlled by the Spirit—spiritual—or controlled by the flesh—carnal—at any point of time. Worry is a mental attitude sin. Sin takes us out of the divine power sphere. Therefore, it is impossible to be worried and at the same time to be the channel of divine production.

The fruit that the believer will not cease to yield as he draws power from the stream is the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22–23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. “The fruit of the Spirit” in this passage is singular; it is one fruit, produced like grapes on a cluster.

In the physical realm, fruit-bearing takes time. We see signs of fruit on a young tree, but full, ripe fruit is found only on a mature tree. In the spiritual realm, as young believers, when we are filled by the Spirit, we will show signs of fruit. If we continue choosing to walk in the Spirit, we will grow, and the maturing fruit will be an evidence of our growth. At no time can we produce the fruit of the Spirit in our own energy. Jeremiah explains why we so desperately need the divine system of power.

“p. 148The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” (Jer. 17:9–10) The heart—referring here to the inner man, the place where thinking takes place—is said to be “deceitful,” which is the Hebrew word aqob, meaning “deceitful, fraudulent, polluted.” The mind without faith is under the dictates of the sin nature and absolutely cannot be trusted.

Not only is it more deceitful than anything else, it is anash, “incurable, malignant.” Who can understand the heart of man? No one but God. Only God knows our real inner workings, and without God we could never understand ourselves. Without the convicting, teaching, and illuminating ministries of God the Holy Spirit in our lives, we could never understand who we are and why we do the things we do. (See also 1 Cor. 2:9–11.)

“Search” means “to look for content.” “Test” means “to diligently examine with the intent of finding function.” God, of course, always knows what is in our hearts, but He wants us to know. He wants us to understand what is on the inside and who is in control there. We will never know what is going on in our souls until God brings it out. So, He tests us by sometimes putting us in adverse situations and sometimes in prosperous situations—giving us the chance to apply what we know (1 Cor. 10:13; James 1:2–3). And all the while, God evaluates our thoughts and motives (Heb. 4:13).

The ultimate purpose of God’s searching and testing is to give to each of us according to our ways, according to the results of our deeds. “Ways” refers to content. “Deeds” refers to function. God is not only concerned with what we do, but much more with how we do it. The Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus that there are two kinds of life: physical and spiritual. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh,” He said, “and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Nothing that we do in the power of the flesh is acceptable to God (Isa. 64:6). Only what is produced by the Spirit of God through us is worth anything.

“p. 149Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.”’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37–39)

The thirst Jesus is talking about is spiritual. The Lord phrases His invitation in a conditional sentence. “If anyone is thirsty” is a third-class condition that means “maybe you are thirsty and maybe not.” The verb dipsao, “thirst,” is a present, active, subjunctive. The subjunctive mood indicates potential. The active voice indicates that this is a matter of personal choice. We decide whether to be spiritually thirsty or not.

If we decide that we will be thirsty, then we decide whether we will quench our thirst or not. The solution to thirst is to take a drink. The phrase, “let him come to Me,” reminds us that there is only one place where our thirst will be quenched—in Christ. In the imperative mood, it is the Lord’s command to us. Pino, “drink,” is a present, active, indicative. Again, the active voice indicates that we make the choice of whether or not to drink. In verse 38, Jesus makes it clear that to drink means to believe. Faith is analogous to the drinking that quenches our thirst.

Every one of these verbs—“thirst,” “come,” “drink,” “believe”—is in the present tense, indicating continuous action. We choose whether we will keep on being thirsty; we choose whether we will keep on coming to Christ and drinking; we choose whether we will keep on believing. Only through moment-by-moment faith in Christ can we quench the moment-by-moment thirst of the soul.

John makes it clear that the Holy Spirit, who would be sent to indwell every believer after Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, is the source of the “rivers of living water.” Only faith can open the floodgates in our souls and release the power of the Spirit of God to flow through us.