"He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." - John 7:38.
Our Lord, in His conversation with the Samaritan woman, said: "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14b). In our text, the promise is even greater: rivers of living waters flowing from him, bringing life and blessing to others. John says further that this refers to the Holy Ghost, who should come when Christ had been glorified, for the Holy Spirit was not yet poured out. The Spirit of God was mentioned in the Old Testament, but the Holy Spirit had not yet been given. Christ must first be offered through the eternal Spirit (on the cross) (Hebrews 9:14), and raised from the dead by the spirit of holiness (Romans 1:4), and receive from the Father power to send forth the Holy Ghost. Then only would the Christian be able to say: Now the Holy Spirit of Christ is in me.
What do we need in order to experience these two wonderful promises of the well of water and the rivers of living water? Just one thing--the inner attachment to Christ, and the unreserved surrender to fellowship with Him, and the firm assurance that His Spirit will work in us what we cannot do. In one word: He that believeth on Me. We need a faith that rejoices in the divine might and love, and depends on Him day by day to grant us grace that living water may flow forth from us.
We can truly agree that the river of God is so full of life, and also has the power to revive us. As we drink from its water, it causes us to hunger and thirst for the deeper things of God and become alive through Christ. Jesus Christ calls it living water. We need to take this living water and spread it to others, so that they may be revived and come to believe on Christ.
If the water from a reservoir is to flow into a house all day, one thing is necessary, which is the connection must be perfect, and then the water passes through the pipe of its own accord. So the union between you and Christ must be uninterrupted. Your faith must accept Christ, and depend and believe upon Him, to sustain the new life.
Let your faith rejoice that Jesus Christ gives us the Holy Spirit, and may you have the assurance that the Holy Spirit is within you as a fountain of blessing.
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Andrew Murray (1828 - 1917)
Brother Andrew Murray was a well-known writer/preacher in South Africa who ministered amongst the Dutch Reformed churches. His writings now are widely accepted by modern evangelicals and he is published more than ever in his life-time.Some of his better known books titles are: "Abide In Christ", "Absolute Surrender," and "Humility." His burden for the body of Christ were teachings on the abiding Spirit of Christ in the believer, the life of faith with God daily, and the life of intercession and prayer in the Church.
Andrew Murray was possibly the strongest spokesman of the Philadelphian age to expound the Body's necessity to abide in Christ, like the Apostle John before him.
Murray was born into a family of four children in the then remote Graaff-Reinet region (near the Cape) of South Africa. Educated in Scotland, which was followed by theological studies in Holland, Andrew returned to his native land to work as a missionary and minister. Given the daunting task of ministering to Bloemfontein, a remote region of 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people beyond the Orange River, Murray already began to sense the need to for the "deeper Christian life".
Though successful in preaching and bringing many to Christ, Murray found many of his greatest lessons in the School of Suffering, as will all who follow in the path of obedience.
Andrew Murray was one of four children born to Pastor Andrew, Sr., and Maria Murray. He was raised in what was considered to be the most remote corner of the world - Graaff-Reinet, South Africa. Educated in Scotland and Holland, in 1848 Andrew, Jr., returned to South Africa as a missionary and minister with the Dutch Reformed Church. His first appointment was to Bloemfontein, a territory of nearly 50,000 square miles and 12,000 people.
Andrew and his brother John had been in close contact with a revival movement in Scotland, an evangelical extension of the ongoing Second Great Awakening in America. He prayed for the same sort of awakening for the church in South Africa and wrote, "My prayer is for revival, but I am held back by the increasing sense of my own unfitness for the work. I lament the awful pride and self complacency that have till now ruled my heart. O that I may be more and more a minister of the Spirit." (J. du Plessis, The Life of Andrew Murray)
In 1860, revival did come to the churches of Cape Town, South Africa, and subsequently spread to surrounding towns and villages. Even remote farms and plantations felt the impact as lives were changed. Where once the churches had not been able to find one man ready to be a leader for God, the revival raised up 50 in Murray's Cape Town parish alone. There were more conversions in one month in that parish than in the whole course of its previous history. (Leona Choy, Andrew Murray: Apostle of Abiding Love)
Greatly concerned for the spiritual guidance of new converts and renewed Christians, Andrew Murray wrote over 240 books. His writings reflect his own longing for a deeper life in Christ and his prayer that others would long for and experience that life as well.