In John 7:37-39, the Lord speaks about drinking. “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. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Spirit was not yet; because Jesus was not yet glorified.)”
The Spirit in John seven is special, because it says that the Spirit was not yet. The King James Version inserts the word “given,” but it is not in the original. The original says that at that time the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not glorified. This means that before Jesus was resurrected, there was not such a life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit was not yet because Jesus was not resurrected yet. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected. It is the same with a little seed when it is sown into the earth. When it is grown up and blossoms, it is glorified. When it is glorified, it becomes something else. It is no more a seed, but a flower.
When Jesus was in John seven, He was still a seed. He had not yet become the life-giving Spirit for us to drink. We all know that when Jesus was speaking in John seven, the Spirit of God was here. We could not say that the Spirit of God was not yet. There was the Spirit of God, but the life-giving Spirit was not yet. This is because Jesus had not gone through death and resurrection. When He was resurrected, He was glorified. Then He became the life-giving Spirit, so available for us to drink. Hallelujah!
The baptism is in Matthew, and the drinking is in John. For this reason 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us that we have all been baptized in one Spirit, and we have been made to drink of one Spirit. Then, following chapter twelve, 1 Corinthians 15:45 says, “The last Adam was made the life-giving Spirit.” So in 1 Corinthians we have these two verses telling us of two spirits. Chapter twelve tells us to drink of one Spirit, and chapter fifteen tells us that the Lord became the life-giving Spirit. These two spirits are certainly one. The life-giving Spirit in chapter fifteen is the one Spirit in chapter twelve. So to drink of one Spirit is to drink of Jesus as the life-giving Spirit.
It is so important that we see these two aspects of baptism and drinking. We start with baptism, and we continue with drinking. However, baptism is once and for all, but drinking is continuous. We should never stop drinking. By baptism we were put into Christ, and by drinking we get Christ into us. To be put into Christ is once and for all. But to get Christ into every part of our being takes a life time. It is even a matter of eternity. In the New Jerusalem, we will still be drinking of the Spirit. When we get into eternity, baptism will cease, but drinking will continue. We will drink for eternity. It is so clear that the river of life in Revelation twenty-two is not for baptism, but for drinking. “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17).
Nothing in today’s Christianity is so confusing as the matter of baptism. There are many who think that the baptism is everything. They want the baptism, but they don’t want the drinking. They even speak about 1 Corinthians 12:13, but they never mention the last part of the verse concerning drinking. This is the problem today. The real need is not the baptism, but the drinking.
We must realize that the baptism has been already accomplished. Even before we were born, we were baptized. “For in one Spirit were we all baptized.” Many times people have asked me, “Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?” I tell them that I was baptized in the house of Cornelius before I was born. We all know that our sins were taken away on the cross before we were born. It is the same with the baptism. It is once and for all.