Scripture Reading: Isa. 12; John 1:14a; Col. 2:9; Matt. 1:21; Heb. 5:9; 9:12; John 4:14; Rev. 21:6
In this message we want to see the springs of salvation in Isaiah 12. We need to know the difference between the words fountain and springs. Deuteronomy 8:7 speaks of the good land as "a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains, flowing forth in valleys and in mountains." The fountain is the source, the spring is the issue of the source, and the waterbrook, or the river, is the flow. The source of the Jordan River is in Mount Hermon. Some of us visited there and saw the spring of water gushing out from the fountain to become a river. In its verbal form spring means to gush out or gush up. Exodus 15 speaks of the children of Israel arriving at Elim on their journey in the wilderness. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (v. 27—ASV). The source of these springs may have been one fountain.
Isaiah 12 does not use the word spring in the singular but the word springs in plural. Verse 3 says, "Therefore you will draw water with rejoicing / From the springs of salvation." The term the springs of salvation implies that salvation is the source. The source of the springs of salvation is a fountain, and that fountain is salvation. The source, the fountain, and salvation are synonyms. Who is the source, the fountain, the salvation, in Isaiah 12? Verse 2 says, "God is now my salvation; / I will trust and not dread; / For Jah Jehovah is my strength and song, / And He has become my salvation." Jah is a short form of Jehovah. This is similar to a person's full name also having a short form, such as Benjamin and Ben.
The main word stressed in Isaiah 12 is salvation. God is our salvation, and Jah Jehovah is our strength and song. Strength and song both indicate experience. When God's salvation is experienced by us, this salvation becomes our strength, and eventually it will be our song, our praising. The strength and the song are experiences of salvation. In our experiences our God is Jah and Jehovah. In the New Testament, our God is called Jesus and Christ. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. When we are calling upon Him, we can say in a very intimate way, "My Lord Jesus Christ." Sometimes we can express this in a more dear way by saying, "My dear Lord Jesus Christ." Jah Jehovah in the New Testament is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Out of the fountain of salvation come the springs. This salvation is Jah Jehovah. In the New Testament, Jah Jehovah is Jesus, the incarnated God. Jesus means the salvation of Jehovah. This salvation is the source of all the springs. In John 7:38 the Lord Jesus said that out of our innermost being would flow rivers of living water. Not just a river, but rivers flow out of us. When I was young, I was bothered because I knew that the rivers, which are plural, refer to the one Spirit. I did not see at that time that the book of Revelation speaks of the seven Spirits (1:4; 4:5; 5:6). God's one Spirit has been intensified sevenfold. In John 7 the rivers of living water are the many flows of the different aspects of life (cf. Rom. 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23) of the one unique river of water of life (Rev. 22:1), which is God's Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2).
The springs issue out of the fountain. The springs are Christ. These springs become the rivers, which are the Spirit. The salvation is the source, the fountain, out of which Christ springs up. 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.
The water in a fountain comes from the heavens. This water comes down to the earth and gets deeply into the earth. Eventually, it becomes a fountain under the earth, and this fountain springs up to become springs. This is a picture. The water is the processed Triune God becoming a fountain, out of which we can have the springs of salvation for our enjoyment and experience. When we receive this water, it becomes a stream flowing within us. God as our salvation is the fountain; Christ is the springs of salvation for our enjoyment and experience; and the Spirit is the flow of this salvation within us.
In John 4 the Lord Jesus showed the Samaritan woman that the very living water would become in her a spring of water welling up into eternal life (v. 14). In Revelation 21:6 the Lord says, "I will give to him who thirsts from the spring of the water of life freely." Both the Old and New Testaments show that the living water is God's practical salvation. This practical salvation is the processed Triune God Himself.
Most people do not consider that God's salvation is so subjective to us. Most think of His salvation in an objective way. Some think that they need the Lord Jesus to stretch out His hand to rescue them and pull them out of the fall. Actually, the Lord's salvation is absolutely not like this. If we want the Lord to save us, we must drink Him. The way to receive the processed Triune God as our salvation is by drinking Him. When the water gets into us, it permeates our entire being. The way that we get nourished, transformed, conformed, and glorified is by drinking Christ into us. This is the way to receive God as our salvation. The source of this water is a fountain, which is immeasurably deep and wide, and this fountain has many springs.
The springs at Niagara Falls are not drinkable because they are too great and fierce, but Jesus is a gentle spring. In the ancient times in the Middle East, people would go to a spring where there was a well from which they drew water for themselves and for others. We can also come to the Lord to draw living water from Him for ourselves and for others. This shows that the processed Triune God as our salvation is very subjective. The water that we drink passes through our entire being, is assimilated by us, and even becomes us.
In both the Old and New Testaments, water is used as an illustration of our Triune God. At the end of the Bible in Revelation 22, there is a picture of a throne, upon which the Lamb-God is sitting. Out from the throne underneath the Lamb, flows the river of water of life. In this river grows the tree of life, and this river passes through the entire holy city. The river actually spirals down from the throne in the middle of the golden street to water the whole city. Every part of the city is nourished and watered by this river. This is a full picture of the Triune God to be our salvation. Every day we need to drink Him.
Along with drinking the Lord, we also need to breathe Him in. According to the spiritual reality, breathing is drinking. M.E. Barber said in one of her hymns, "Just to breathe the Name of Jesus / Is to drink of Life indeed" (Hymns, #73, verse 2). To breathe the name of Jesus is to drink the water of life. By calling "O Lord Jesus" we breathe, and by breathing we drink.
Isaiah 12 speaks of drawing water (v. 3). No doubt, this is for drinking. Now we need to consider where breathing is revealed in this chapter. Verse 4 says, "And you will say in that day, / Praise Jehovah; call upon His name!" Praising Jehovah and calling upon His name are put together as one. Whenever we call on the name of the Lord, that implies praising. When we say "O Lord Jesus," that is not only calling but also praising. When we say, "O Lord Jesus, I love You," this is praising and breathing. Many Christians are deadened because they do not practice this spiritual breathing. If we do not breathe physically, we will die within a short period of time. This shows how crucial calling on the Lord is.
Acts 2:21 says, "And it shall be that everyone, whoever calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved." The note on this verse in the Recovery Version points out that calling on the name of the Lord began with Enosh, the third generation of mankind, in Genesis 4:26. The name Enosh means frail, mortal man. We human beings are altogether weak, frail, fragile, and mortal. We cannot do anything apart from the Lord. Because we need Him in everything, we need to call on Him. When we call on Him, we breathe Him in, and our breathing is our drinking.
The air we breathe includes water. When water becomes vapor, it gets into the air. The air sends water to the earth in the form of rain, and the water on the earth vaporizes and goes back to the air. There are devices called vaporizers which convert the water into vapor for inhalation. The water in the vaporizer goes into the air. When we breathe in this air, we get the water because the water is in the air. This illustrates that our breathing is also our drinking. Spiritually, our calling is our breathing, and our breathing is our drinking. When we say, "O Lord Jesus," we breathe Him in, and we are watered and refreshed.
Christ is the springs of salvation for our enjoyment. As God incarnated, He is the very embodiment of the Triune God (John 1:14a; Col. 2:9). The name of this Christ is Jesus — Jehovah the Savior becoming Jehovah the salvation (Matt. 1:21). Jesus, Jehovah our Savior, has become the source of our eternal salvation through the process of His vicarious death for the accomplishment of the eternal redemption (Heb. 5:9; 9:12). In order for the Lord Jesus to go from the throne in the heavens to the cross on Mount Calvary, He had to pass through many processes. He came from and with His divinity into humanity. He was born of a human virgin, and He passed through human living. He passed through all kinds of sufferings.
We should not think He was arrested and put on the cross unwillingly. He voluntarily gave Himself up on the cross. When He was arrested, He said, "Do you think that I cannot beseech My Father and He will provide Me at once more than twelve legions of angels? How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?" (Matt. 26:53-54). He volunteered to present Himself to the Father on the cross. This was for the accomplishment of our eternal redemption, which is the base of our eternal salvation. Salvation is based upon redemption. The Triune God can be our Savior because He passed through the necessary processes to accomplish redemption. Based upon His redemption, He as our Redeemer becomes our Savior and our salvation.
The source of salvation is the very fountain of the Triune God's salvation, out of which well up many springs (Isa. 12:3b). Thus, the processed Triune God has become our salvation (v. 2) with Christ, the life-giving pneuma, as the many springs from whom the believers draw the water of life (v. 3a; John 4:14; Rev. 21:6). The enjoyment of this salvation with the springs of the water of life becomes our strength and song (Isa. 12:2).
Now we want to consider the way to draw water from the springs of the divine salvation. First, we need to be those who are repenting to turn God's anger and receive God's consolation of forgiveness (Isa. 12:1). We also need to be those who are praising Jehovah, calling upon His name (v. 4a). Furthermore, in order to draw water from the springs of salvation, we should make God's saving deeds known among the peoples and exalt His name among them (v. 4b). We also need to sing to Him for He has done something majestic, and we must let this be made known in all the earth (v. 5).
