“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life” (Revelation 22:17 NLT).
It is the great privilege of the Holy Spirit and the church to invite people of every nationality, class or creed to come to Christ. The grand obsession of the Holy Spirit is to reveal Jesus to the world and to draw people to Him for salvation. The Holy Spirit does not ever draw any attention to Himself, but only seeks to glorify Jesus. Our Lord testifies of the Spirit, “He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me” (John 16:14-15 NLT). This seems to be the norm within the Godhead because our Lord similarly did not draw attention to Himself but to the Father. “So, Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19 NLT). Again, our Lord confessed, “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it” (John 12:49 NLT). As Jesus was the Ambassador for the Father, so the Holy Spirit is the Ambassador for Jesus. As nobody could get to the father except through Jesus, so nobody today gets to Jesus except through the Holy Spirit. This is why His invitation is crucial for the salvation of the world.
The Holy Spirit’s grand obsession is to reveal Jesus to the world.
The Holy Spirit extends the invitation through the Bride of Christ, which is the church, the assembly of the redeemed. As God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:19), so the Holy Spirit lives in the church and uses her to reconcile the world to Christ. As the Father depended on Christ to act on earth, so the Holy Spirit now depends on the church to act on earth. He uses the church as a body as well as uses every individual member of the church as a person. The Apostle Paul reveals the responsibility of every member of the church to express the presence and the activities of the Holy Spirit saying, “The Holy Spirit displays God’s power through each of us as a means of helping the entire church” (1 Corinthians 12:7 Living Bible). Being able to cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that each of us would become a good channel of displaying His power is the core essence of Christianity. The ultimate goal of displaying the power of the Holy Spirit by every individual member of the church is to invite more and more people to come to Christ. Those who accept the invitation of the Holy Spirit and the Bride extends the same invitation to others – “Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Have you said “come” to any person in the recent times? All the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to empower believers to say “come” to any person who has not yet claimed his or her salvation in Christ.
Our Lord left this parting promise to the church moments before His ascension, “John baptized you with water,” he reminded them, “but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.” When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect …” (Acts 1:5, 8 LB). The job of the Holy Spirit is to give us the needed power to testify about Jesus “with great effect.” When Peter preached on the day of the Pentecost, the great effect was that three thousand people gladly received the gospel and joined the church (Acts 2:41). The great effect of the testimony of individual believers was that “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47 NKJV). The same Holy Spirit is still available for us today to fill us with the same power to produce the same great effect! So, what is keeping you? Let me offer a guess –you are not thirsty enough. You have not cultivated a strong enough desire for the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Our text therefore invites us as we look forward to the Pentecost, “Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.” The invitation to power is extended to anyone who is thirsty and who desires irrespective of class or gender. All are welcome to drink of the water of life freely, such that the living water of Holy Ghost power will be flowing from each of us to set the captives free wherever we go. The water is given freely but only to the hungry and thirsty. Are you frustrated by the feeling powerlessness in your life? Have you been praying with minimal result? Are you angry enough to tell Satan, enough is enough? Then, come to Jesus for the water of life! Ask Him to fill you with the Spirit. He won’t deny you in Jesus’ name.
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