Scripture Reading: Isa. 12:1-6; Jer. 2:13; Exo. 17:6a; John 4:14b
Ⅰ
"My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water"— Jer. 2:13:
A
God needs to be the fountain of living waters to us because He has an economy, and His economy is to produce a counterpart, a bride, for Himself—Eph. 3:9; 1:1; 5:23, 25, 28-30; Rev. 19:7.
B
God's intention in His economy is to be the fountain, the source, of living waters to satisfy His chosen people for their enjoyment:
１
The goal of this enjoyment is to produce the church as God's increase, God's enlargement, to be God's fullness for His expression—Eph. 1:22-23.
２
God's purpose in wanting to be the fountain of living waters for His elect to drink is that He would be increased and enlarged—John 3:29a, 30a.
３
Our drinking of God as the living water is for the producing of the church as His enlargement for His expression—1 Cor. 12:12-13, 27; 1:2.
４
The more we drink of God as the fountain of living waters, the more He is one with us and the more we are one with Him and constituted with Him in His life and nature— 6:17.
Ⅱ
"I will be standing before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it so that the people may drink"—Exo. 17:6a:
A
The water flowing out of the cleft rock typifies the Spirit—John 7:37-39.
B
Through incarnation Christ came to earth as a rock:
１
On the cross He was smitten by the authority of God's righteous law to accomplish God's redemption.
２
His side was pierced, and living water flowed out for God's people to drink; this living water is the water of life in resurrection—the all-inclusive, life-giving Spirit as the ultimate issue of the Triune God—19:34.
C
The flow of the living water began from the throne of God in eternity, continued through the incarnation, human living, and crucifixion of Christ, and now flows on in resurrection to supply God's people with the riches of the divine life—4:10, 14; 19:34; Rev. 22:1-2.
D
The flowing of the water of life in resurrection is for the building up of the Body of Christ and the preparation of the bride of Christ, both of which will consummate in the New Jerusalem—1 Cor. 12:13; Rev. 19:7; 21:9-10.
Ⅲ
"Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation"—Isa. 12:3:
A
We need to know the difference between the words fountain and springs:
１
The fountain is the source, the springs are the issue of the source, and the river is the flow.
２
In the Bible a spring signifies life that flows out of God in resurrection into His chosen people—Exo. 15:27; Rev. 7:17; 21:6.
３
The term the springs of salvation implies that salvation is the source:
ａ
The source of the springs of salvation is a fountain, and that fountain is salvation.
ｂ
The springs, which are Christ, issue out of the fountain and become the rivers, which are the Spirit—John 4:14; 7:37-39.
４
The processed Triune God is the fountain, the springs, and the river of water of life; the Father is the fountain, the Son is the springs, and the Spirit is the river of water of life.
B
God as our salvation is the fountain, Christ is the springs of salvation for our experience and enjoyment, and the Spirit is the flow of this salvation within us.
C
To receive the Lord as our salvation is to draw water from the springs of salvation—Isa. 12:3; John 4:10, 14:
１
In order to enjoy salvation, we need to realize that the Lord Himself is our salvation, strength, and song and that by calling on His name we may draw water with rejoicing out of the springs of salvation—Isa. 12:2-3.
２
The way to draw water out of the springs of the divine salvation includes repenting, calling, singing, thanking, praising, and making God's saving deeds known—vv. 4-6.
３
When this water gets into us, it permeates our entire being, it passes through our being, it is assimilated by us, and it even becomes us.
Ⅳ
"The water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water gushing up into eternal life"—John 4:14b:
A
The Triune God flows in the Divine Trinity in three stages: The Father is the fountain, the Son is the springs, and the Spirit is the river.
B
The flowing of the Triune God is "into eternal life," that is, into the New Jerusalem:
１
The New Jerusalem is the totality of the eternal life; thus, into eternal life means "into the New Jerusalem."
２
The Father as the fountain, the Son as the springs, and the Spirit as the river flow into us and with us into the New Jerusalem to be the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:2, 9-10.
３
By drinking the living water, we become the New Jerusalem, the totality of the eternal life, the destination of the flowing Triune God.