THE SOURCE AND NATURE OF THE STREAM
We have seen that after man was created he was put before a tree called the "tree of life." By the side of the tree of life there was a river, and by the flowing of this river there were some precious materials: gold, pearl, and onyx stone. What is the meaning of these items? They are most significant. Remember that this is in the second chapter of the whole of Scripture. At the end of Scripture, we find the same things again in the last two chapters. There we see a city made of gold, pearls, and precious stones, the same kind of materials listed in Genesis chapter two. There we also see a river flowing, and in its midst grows the tree of life. Here you have the river and the tree of life once more.
How many times throughout the Scriptures God is spoken of as a flowing stream of water! "Thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life..." (Psa. 36:8-9). The Lord Jesus tells us that the water that He gives will become a fountain of living water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:14). He says again that whoever is thirsty may come to Him and drink, and whoever believes on Him will have rivers of living water flowing from within him (John 7:37-38). All these words relate to one thing?that God has flowed out and is still flowing on this earth into humanity as the life. We may ask, In what form has God flowed out? He has flowed out first in His Son, in Christ; and then He has flowed out as the Spirit. God is the spring, the very source; Christ the Son is the fountain, the reservoir, of this divine water; and the Holy Spirit is the living stream, flowing all the time.
On the day of Pentecost the Lord poured Himself out in the Holy Spirit. Notice the word "poured" in Acts 2:33. He poured out the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit became the flowing stream of the divine water. For almost two thousand years since that time, the Holy Spirit has been flowing in this world. This flowing has never stopped and will flow to eternity. God the Father is the very source. Christ the Son is the reservoir, the Rock smitten that the divine water stored within may be released. What is this living water that flows from Him? It is the very Spirit of the life of God. The Holy Spirit is the flowing Spirit of the divine life. "This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we all are witnesses. Being therefore by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath poured forth this..." (Acts 2:32-33). He has poured out the Holy Spirit, flowing with the divine life. From that time there is a flowing of the divine life, and this flowing is the Holy Spirit Himself.
We must consider the source of this stream. On the highest peak of the universe there is a throne, one throne, and on this throne the Lamb is sitting. I would ask, Who is the Lamb? The Lamb is the crucified, buried, resurrected and exalted Christ. Christ is the Lamb. And who is Christ? This Christ is Someone most wonderful. This Christ is the divine nature mingled with the human nature. He is God incarnated, Who died on the Cross, Who was buried in the tomb, Who went down to Hades, Who was raised up from Hades and from death, and Who was exalted to the heaven of heavens, to the right hand of God. He is the very God in human nature. He is the One Who died to redeem us from our sins and Who has been exalted to the highest place in the universe. Please notice that He is the Lamb, and yet He is on the throne. A lamb is a very humble thing, and a throne is full of authority. As the Lamb slain, the crucified Jesus has now been exalted to the throne to have the full authority of the universe. Do you realize this? How meaningful it is! Within the Lamb is God Himself. How can we know that God is within Him? We are told that God is the light and the Lamb is the lamp. Just as the light is within the lamp, so God is within the Lamb on the throne. Oh, how I wish that this picture would impress you! This is the highest point of the whole universe. Christ, the Lamb, with God within Him is sitting on the throne, and from this very throne flows out the river of divine life.
I would ask you to notice what is included in this stream of water. Since it flows out from such a place, then all that Christ has obtained and attained, all that He has and all that He is, must be included in it. How I wish I had here a cup of all-inclusive water as an illustration, a cup of water with everything included in it! Then, if we could make an opening in this cup so that its contents could flow out, I would ask you to tell me what would be included in such a flow. You would have to answer that everything would be included. Obviously, everything would be included. From the throne where Christ is sitting, there flows out a stream of water, the contents of which can never be exhausted. The all-inclusiveness of the Triune God is here; humanity is here; the element of the crucifixion and of the burial is here; the resurrection, the ascension, the authority, the Lordship, the Headship, and everything is included here in this stream. How rich! How all-inclusive! This is the stream which is flowing within you today.
The Scripture tells us that within this stream grows the tree of life. What is the tree of life? It is simply Christ as the life. Think of the many times the Scripture refers to a tree as a figure of Christ. The fact that this tree grows in the living water shows us that Christ as life is in the flowing of the Holy Spirit. Where the Holy Spirit flows, there Christ is found as the life. The Holy Spirit brings Christ to us as our life just as the stream of living water brings to the whole city the tree of life as the supply of life. Look once more at the picture. Here is a stream of living water, and within the stream, growing all the way, is the tree of life. Thus the stream brings the supply of life to the entire city. The Holy Spirit brings Christ to us as food, as the life supply.
Since this is such a vital matter, I wish to press it by asking, Do you have this stream flowing within you? Is it flowing within you at this very moment? Unbelievers do not have it; but alas, there are some believers who, although they have had this stream flowing into them, have not kept themselves within its flow. They have the life of the Triune God within them, but they are not keeping themselves in the flowing of this life. Many times you are conscious that you are out of the flowing of this stream. Then, sometimes you know that you are in its flowing. What have you to do then? It is really quite simple. You just have to keep yourself in the flowing of the stream. Whenever you feel that the flowing of the stream within you is cut off, you must turn to the Lord immediately to seek the reason. Why has the stream within you stopped flowing? You must discover the reason and deal with the Lord about it until the flowing is recovered. Wherever you are going and whatever you are about to do, if there is the sense that the flowing of the stream will be stopped by proceeding in that matter, then you must stop. Stop in order to maintain the flowing. To maintain the flowing you must refrain from all those activities which are not of the Lord, that is, which are not of the flowing of the stream within you.
트랙백주소: THE STREAM IN RELATION TO GOD'S PURPOSE
The eternal purpose of God is to mingle Himself with humanity. He is working toward this one thing today. This oneness is not simply a joining or a uniting together; it is far more than this. It is a mingling together, a blending together, which is much deeper. It is a mingling of the divine nature with the human nature until they become one. The entire Scripture is concerned with this one basic and central matter, that of God mingling Himself with us.
We must now ask, How will God accomplish this? It is clearly revealed in the Word that in order for God to do this, He must come into us. When God becomes our life, He will automatically be mingled with us.
How can God come into us as our life? This is divine and quite mysterious. Not only with the divine life, but also with human life there is an element of mystery. If asked, What is life? one would find it difficult to define. In the Scripture God uses a figure to describe how He could be life to us. This figure is a stream of water. He comes into us to be our life just as a stream of water flowing out and flowing in, flowing out from heaven and flowing into us. I think it is easy to understand how this flowing stream can come into us. We simply drink of it. God Himself is the stream of the water of life. God flows out of heaven onto this earth, and flows into you and me.
Is there a stream of God flowing within you today? There is a stream within me which is always flowing. Sometimes when I wish to sleep, this stream stirs me. I say, "Lord, I would like to rest; I'm tired"; but this stream flowing within does not agree. It gives me the impression: "You are tired, but I am not tired. I am still flowing, and My flowing will strengthen you." There is a stream continually flowing. Oh, brothers and sisters, do you have the flowing?
THE STREAM OF THE WORK OF GOD
This stream is also the stream of God's work. Where the stream flows, there is the work of God. This is clear in the book of Acts, a book which speaks to us of the work of God. What is that kind of work which is the work of God? It is a work in the stream of living water. Where the stream of living water flows, there is the work of God. God works along the flowing of the stream of the divine life. If you consider the whole record of the book of Acts, you will see the picture quite clearly. On the day of Pentecost this stream of divine life flowed out of God Himself in Christ with ruling power from the throne. It began to flow from Jerusalem. From there it flowed to Antioch, and then from Antioch it turned to the West; it flowed to Asia, and through Asia it flowed to Macedonia, to Europe. Here is a picture of the flowing of the stream of divine life, and with the flowing of this stream is the work of God. By flowing God works; by flowing God preaches His Gospel; by flowing God brings people to be saved. There is a stream which we could call the stream or the current of the work. Where it flows, there is the work of God.
Notice that there is no end, no conclusion, to the book of Acts. There are twenty-eight chapters, but in the book of Acts in heaven today there may be twenty-eight hundred chapters. The twenty-eight chapters in our Bible are just the record of sixty or seventy years of history. There is an opening, but no closing, no conclusion. This is because this stream of life is still flowing and never stops flowing. The history of the church shows that this stream has continued to flow from generation to generation right up to this very day, and it is flowing still. Where it flows, there is the life of God; where it flows, there is the fellowship of the Body; where it flows, there is the testimony of Jesus; and where it flows, there is also the work of God. It is the stream of life, the stream of fellowship, the stream of testimony, and the stream of the work of God.
Brothers and sisters, we must be in this stream. If we are not in this stream, we are out of life, we are out of the fellowship of the Body, we are out of the testimony of the Lord Jesus, and we are out of the work of God. Oh, if we are simply in this stream, we will have everything. From whence does it flow? It flows from the throne. What kind of a throne is this? It is the throne of the Lamb with God in Him. God is in the Lamb, and the Lamb is on the throne, and this stream flows out of this throne. If you have this stream, you have the throne, you have the Lamb and you have God within the Lamb. If you have this stream you have everything. If you are in this stream, then you are in God, you are in the Lamb with the throne, you are in the life, you are in the fellowship, you are in the testimony, and you are in the work of God. Are you in the stream? You need to know. If you are not in the stream, you will have to make a turn; you will have to have a crisis. We must be in the stream!
In the universe there is a divine stream which starts in the beginning of the Scriptures and flows throughout the whole Book. We can trace this stream from the beginning of the Bible right to the end. In many places there is reference to this flowing stream. It is still flowing today. It is flowing, flowing all the time, and will be flowing to eternity. The Lord said that the water He gives would be a well of water springing up unto eternal life. This stream shall flow to eternity; it can never and will never cease. Throughout the whole history of the Church there has ever been and still is such a divine stream.
This stream has flowed back to the Western world as a supply to His Body. We look to the Lord that it will be increasing in this country and even to all parts of the world. May we remember this in our prayers, and may we be ready to go along with the Lord that this stream may have a free way to flow without any hindrance in us. We must be faithful to the flowing of this stream of the divine life, of the fellowship of the Body, of the testimony of the Lord Jesus, and of the work of God.
