Ezekiel 47:1-12 “1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side. 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits [a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, "Son of man, do you see this?" Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, [b] where it enters the Sea. [c] When it empties into the Sea, [d] the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. [e] 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing."
The Dead Sea has a high content of salinity. A person who does not know how to swim can naturally float in the Dead Sea. Our world is like the Dead Sea. It is very dense with wickedness and evil. We must be strong and thick skinned to survive. In this world, the theme is survival of the fittest. If someone is cunning, then the other person must be more cunning. If someone is knavish, the other person must be more knavish than the other person. When a river or ocean becomes polluted, the consequences will be deformed fishes. The concept is the same when it comes to spirituality. THERE ARE TOO MANY SAINTS WHO ARE SPIRITUALLY DEFORMED. In this last generation, where one exhorts to wickedness and evil to survive and make it to the top, there are too many Christians who have been transformed into deformity.
In this last generation, God must use us as His pathway and restore His Kingdom. Therefore, we must exam ourselves thoroughly with the Word of God. We must check and evaluate the state of spirituality that we may be in. We must ask the question, “How deep am I in His presence and Grace?” We must CONSTANTLY exam ourselves.
There is a direction in which God desires for us. We must live our life of faith in the direction that God desires. When people come to church, there is suppose to be a transformation and change of a person or people but there are no restorations occurring in the churches. A true church overcomes the gates of Hades. The church must be built from the foundation of Peter’s confession of faith.
Mark 16:15-20 “He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." 19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”
Even after hearing a sermon, many people are still generally spiritually thirsty. This is because they have not met the Lord who is the living water. God wanted to give living water to His people, the Israelites. Therefore, God sent Jesus, the Living Water. But they denied Jesus; they refused to drink the Living Water.
Because Jesus had died on the cross, the Living Water is now available for us. God exchanged His Son’s life for the Living Water. The Living Water is the Holy Spirit’s Power and Work. If we do not receive the Power of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to be born again. Therefore, it would not be possible to enter heaven.
A nicely built church with great architectural work is not the Living Water. It becomes dangerous if we just cling on and focus only on the chapel/building which does not possess God’s Power. The temple is God’s dwelling place and Jesus is heaven (Kingdom of heaven). When Jesus moves heaven moves. Therefore, everywhere Jesus goes heaven manifests. When we meet Jesus or personally know Him, Heaven is upon us and the surrounding becomes heaven. After Jesus resurrected and ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon us like a tidal wave.
John 7:37-39 “37On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as[c] the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been Glorified.” At first, only a small amount of water was flowing from the threshold of the temple. The amount appeared very disappointing. But, eventually, the amount of water gradually increased and the water overflowed. Without our knowledge, the angels of God measure and grade the individual or church. The angels measure our prayer, worship/praise, our attitude during service, our services, and our ministry within the church. The angels even measure and note when we lose our tempers and give in to our fleshly desires. The angels record and measure the unpleasant words that come out from our mouths, the foul languages, gossiping, and the negative things that we say to one another. It is based on our actions in which we can either go deeper in the Spirit or we can be spiritually blessed incrementally.
After the angel of God continued to measure, the water got deeper. He then said, do not be concerned about the people outside the temple because they will naturally perish.
Revelation 11:1-2 “ A REED [as a measuring rod] was then given to me, [shaped] like a staff, and I was told: Rise up and measure the sanctuary of God and the altar [of incense], and [number] those who worship there.(A)2But leave out of your measuring the court outside the sanctuary of God; omit that, for it is given over to the Gentiles (the nations), and they will trample the holy city underfoot for 42 months (three and one-half years).”
As God raises us up to be used, He will continuously inspect us. With our actions measured by God’s accurate standard, we can go deeper into His presence and Spirit. Otherwise, the alternative is to move a little at a time.
If we desire to survive, we must have the work and action of the Holy Spirit in us. As water flows from the threshold of the temple, the work of the Holy Spirit begins from a very small place. Every small word, every small prayer, a small devotion, and a small sacrifice fulfills the work of God.
Once the angel of God had measured, the water rose up to the ankle. This is prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit. We must continuously go deeper. God’s grace and blessings do not overflow at the initial stages. In fact, it gradually fills up. As the spiritual blessings of God rise up to our ankles, we may feel refreshed but yet not satisfied. We can only catch small fish in a shallow lake such as mud fish. If we desire to catch large fish, we must fish in deep waters.
God has more affection toward those who pray. We will get God’s full attention when we become a prayer warrior. A church can have the manifestation and power of the Holy Spirit but unless it continues to go deeper and seek God more, it will still fizzle out. In fact, it may even become dangerous for that church.
A church without power, work, and the manifestations of the Holy Spirit is without living water. The churches are supposed to be a path of water for the living water which is the Holy Spirit. But sadly, most churches are DEAD.
As God’s angel measured off another thousand and the water rose up to knee level. Once the water level is at our knees moving around is not so easy. When the water level was ankle deep, we are able to move about with ease. But once the water level is knee deep we are not able to move so easily as we desire. Galatians 5:17 “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other. So that you do not do what you want”. Even as we experience God’s spiritual blessings and grace, we may still continue to fight. Our fleshy desire and the desires of the Spirit are in conflict with one another. Even at the stage of water at knee level, a person’s thought, will, and emotions will constantly change back and forth while still sinning. Yet the person will not want to leave the living water but nevertheless, it is not easy to go deeper into the water.
He measured off another thousand and was now up to waist high in water. Now, we can consider this condition as Holy Spirit filled. Even though our face, mouth, and head are not in the water, we are still not able to move freely as we desire. We may attempt to freely move but the movement of the water will be very resistant to us. In this condition, our will is considered weak and God’s presence and power is much stronger in us. In this condition, the will of God begins to take over our mind. It is going to be a problem if God’s will, thought, and plan does not consume our life. If we do not go in the direction of God, it will become a big problem.
He measured off another thousand and now the water is deep enough to swim. Under these conditions, our face, neck, and head are able to be submerged. Our toes cannot reach the bottom. If we do not want to die, we must swim with all of our strength, otherwise, we will die. As living water, the Holy Spirit will lead us. We must flow with Him giving no resistance. We will then experience great miracles and wonders. Under this condition, we will turn our direction toward the international Kingdom affairs to change the world. The power of the Holy Spirit which started with a direction of God’s desire in us will now be in us as we go out to the world to remove and cleanse sin. In order for us to change on the inside, all sin must be removed and cleansed. When our inner being is changed, we then begin to save other souls throughout the world.
On the other side of the land, except for the swamps and marches, a variety of trees will grow on both sides of the bank in the river. Scripture states that the trees will bear fruit every month. Even though we may be in personal tribulation and disciplining and when we are finished going through it all, there will be days in which we will bear fruit daily. When we pass the difficult milestone and there will be no more winter. As a result, the leaves will not wither and the fruits will not fall onto the ground. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit are like a tree planted near a stream of water (Psalm 1:3). Even the leaves will be used for healing (Ezekiel 47:12, Rev 22:2).
If one person changes and because a person has changed, a family can and will be changed. Our churches and country will be changed. We need one person who can properly receive the Holy Spirit. We need one person who can properly receive the gifts. Then everything can and will change. On the outside, all Christians appear as though they all live their lives in faith but on the inside there are other Christians who heal the lives of other people. Those types of Christians heal others with whatever they do. They give positive hope. This is a real blessing. If we receive the spiritual blessings and grace of God, we should not let it evaporate from us. Otherwise, we will become like the Dead Sea. The swamps and marshes could not become refreshed but it was left for salt.
Lord, let us not become like salt land or salty sea. But instead, let us be used for healing. We desire our faith and prayer to be used so that we can heal others. We want to go deeper so that we can flow as God leads us. We desire to bear fruit every day. Let us pick fruits. Until then, help us to endure and go deeper into your presence and deeper into your Spirit. Amen.
Abstract Sermon by Pastor Kim, Yong Doo,
The Lord’s Church, Incheon, Korea
Author of Baptize by Blazing Fire Books 1 to 6
http://www.spiritlessons.com/
Translated by Yoojin and Steve Yong Kim
May 23, 2010
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