Do the math! In verse 37 of our Text Jesus invites us to come get a drink. (Meaning Believe on Him as the Son of God, accept Him as our personal Saviour.) “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

Then immediately (verse 38) that one drink, one swallow maybe, had produced “Rivers of Living Water!” Within that Believer, “Flowing out of his belly.”

Jesus saves us (by our little bit of faith) then gives us this copious Flood of His sweet Holy Spirit!

Wow!

When Jesus mentioned that the “Scripture hath said” (verse 38) He may have had in mind verses like …

Isaiah 55:1 … “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.”

Isaiah 12:3 … “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

Isaiah 58:11 … “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”

Obviously, Jesus loved Isaiah!

Of course, He loved the Psalms too!

Psalm 42:1 … “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.”

The Clause in verse 39 teaching us … “The Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” … means that the Holy Spirit would not be “poured out” on God’s people UNTIL Jesus had died on the old rugged Cross.

This is comparable to an event in the life of ancient Israel recorded in Exodus 17:6. “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.”

The Rock (a symbol of Jesus) was struck … and then the life-giving water (a type of the Holy Spirit) flowed! See it? Jesus died and the Holy Spirit then came in His mighty Presence!

Beautiful!

One more thought today … after preaching our short Text (verses 37-39) the Lord Jesus does not speak again in the rest of the chapter, John chapter 7! Nothing more can possibly be said than … “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”

Praise the Lord!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Today’s Bible Study Lesson consisted of a third “Confrontation” Jesus experienced with the “Pharisees!”

From whence did Jesus come? This question dominates the first half of our Paragraph. The people of Jerusalem obviously did not know the correct answer either!

But Micah 5:2 supplies the data we need! “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”

The Jews could trace Jesus’ “whence” back to Bethlehem, all right. But no further! Yet our verse informs us that Jesus had “goings forth” from eternity past!

In other words, Jesus is the eternal God! He created the universe, John 1:3 … “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Twice in our 12 verse Text people attempted to arrest Jesus, apprehend Him! Verse 30 … “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.”

And again in verse 32 … “And the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.” But without success!

Proverbs 21:31 … “Safety is of the Lord.”

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I learned two new words preparing for this lesson, this Text! “Autodidact” and “theodidact,” basically meaning “self-taught” and “God taught” respectively.

Jesus was no autodidact, for sure! In verse 16 Jesus said to His accusers, “My Doctrine (teaching) is not Mine, but His (God the Father’s) That sent Me.” Thus Jesus is a “Theodidact,” taught of God Himself, God as Jesus’ Father!

Another thought I omitted in tonight’s video lesson … from verse 15. “And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?”

Ignorant in the eyes of the world, uneducated at least … but mightily endowed of God, empowered by the Holy Spirit!

What a principle this illustrates. One of the greatest Preachers I ever knew was uneducated, by the world’s standards anyway. I suspect not even a high school graduate! Yet the Lord used him (my Uncle, Dr. Oliver B. Greene) to bring tens of thousands into the family of God.

In fact, though he died in 1976, his radio broadcasts, books and soul-winning tracts still bear fruit unto the Glory of God! I mean as of this very week.

It’s not education, folks … but the Touch of God that enables a man to preach the Word.

This is not mean to demean schooling in any way, godly schooling. But it is meant to exalt the Power of God!

Thank God for every Bible Preacher you know. For the Doctors of Theology certainly … but also for the unschooled who truly know the Lord!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

Tonight’s Bible Study Class …

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When I record one of our video Bible Studies, I mostly teach from “overflow.” What I have studied concerning that particular Text … material that the Lord brings to mind … in addition to the most interesting vocabulary words.

But (in some Lessons more than others) I must omit a good bit of interesting data. Our Classes last a mere 30 minutes. Hence these “I forgot to say” Articles have been born!

In both John 7 and 8 (though we are currently just beginning John chapter 7) one “confrontation” after another occurs. The very “ambiance” of these chapters is one of tension and argument! (Ambiance is a French word meaning one’s “surroundings.”)

Jesus’ brothers (other children Mary bore, now by Joseph) urged Him to go to Jerusalem and more publicly “show” His Power! (Those brothers are James, Joses, Juda and Simon … based on Mark 6:3.) But Jesus is not a “showman!” One writer on this Text called the brothers’ advice “successism!” (That’s success with “ism” at the end!) This disease has also infected the modern Church, at least in the United States! We need to let the Holy Spirit determinate what success really is, not Madison Avenue!

These “confrontation” chapters have only two “bright spots!” Here they are in full …

John 7:37-39 … In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

John 8:31-32 … Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

In Matthew 4 (the Temptation) Jesus refused to made bread for Himself. But in John 6 Jesus without hesitation made bread for others, for the entire multitude! That’s our Saviour!

Success-ism was always refused by our Lord …

Jump off the pinnacle of the Temple! The crowds will watch angels bear you safely to the ground! What acclaim You will receive! (Matthew 4:5-6, the devil tempting Jesus.) Our Lord refused!

Some, if not all, of Jesus “brothers” got saved after our Lord’s Resurrection! (We know James and Jude did, both being writers of Books in the New Testament!) For “proof” I would use Acts 1:14, in the Upper Room waiting for the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost … “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with HIS BRETHREN.”

Wow!

Yes, Jesus lives!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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In our most recent “Evening Meditation” Bible Study we looked at John 6:60-71, that whole Paragraph.

Within its scope is this great Event … “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?” That event being our Lord’s Ascension back to Heaven, John 6:63.

Jesus had repeatedly told His hearers, including His enemies, that He was the One Who “came down from Heaven.” And they were offended at His bold Claim!

Then the Saviour says something like this … “If you’re aghast at the Incarnation, what will you be at My Ascension?”

In explaining that crucial verse, “I forgot to say” some things. Facts about Jesus’ bodily return to His Father in Heaven!

First of all, not every Gospel covers, describes the Ascension!

Matthew does not. Neither does John! That’s astounding!

But little Mark does, briefly! “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” Mark 16:19

And Luke? Both in in his Gospel and his New Testament Book of history, the Acts.

Luke 24:51 … “And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.”

And Acts 1:9 … “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

Wow!

It is even possible (probable I think) that the Old Testament predicts the Ascension too! Where?

“God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.” Psalm 47:5-6

For these Jews to be so shocked, offended at the Truth of Jesus’ Divinity is hard to understand.

He did come down from Heaven!

He did ascend back to Heaven!

Having secured eternal salvation for everyone who believes!

Luke’s fullest version of Jesus’ Return to Heaven is described like this: “8 Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem …” Acts 1:8-12

Hallelujah!

One more verse about the Ascension, startling nearly! In John 3:13 Jesus told Nicodemus … “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

Historically Jesus was in Jerusalem when he conducted that interview (conversation) with Nicodemus … yet here He also plainly says that He is also “in Heaven!” Look again …“the Son of man which is IN HEAVEN!”

Oh yes, He is ascended.

And in His Mind, His Heart … Heaven was HOME!

Jesus, our Ascended Saviour, very inoffensive to me!

In fact, I adore and honor and worship Him!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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