Exeter Temple Message notes: 20th September 2015

Theme: Jump in

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 47:1-12

Water in the Bible is representative of the Spirit of God and in this vision  the water flowing from the throne of God represents the Holy Spirit being poured out into the world and transforming it. The Spirit of God is a Spirit of grace and love. Wherever the Spirit goes, grace and love will flow too. 

The river flows out of the temple from the south side or the right side of the altar. In the Bible the right hand side was seen as the anointed side, the side of power and strength. The right hand of God is where Jesus is right now.

“After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7-8)

Jesus said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”  

(John 7:37)

The water began as a trickle, like water being poured from the neck of a small flask or bottle.  As it runs from under the Temple threshold the trickle became a stream, then the stream became a creek, then the creek became a river then the river became a torrent, a mighty flow of water to deep and strong to wade across.

History shows us that this is the way the Holy Spirit was received by the world.  In the Old Testament the Spirit came in a limited way and touched a few people, like prophets, priests and kings to fulfil a task; we see an increase in the activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people around the birth of Jesus and then with the day of Pentecost, the Spirit is poured out to all who would receive him.

This fulfilled the promise that God gave to Joel that “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh” (Joel 2:28)

Spiritually speaking we live in a time when the river is in flood.  The river is flowing, the river is here.

1. Jump in

Ezekiel first saw the waters but he did not go into the water alone. He says “The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple.”  (v3b)

Who was the man in Ezekiel’s vision?

Look back to Ezekiel 40:2-3 “In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a high mountain on who south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing on the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand.”

The apostle John had a similar vision on the island of Patmos, “And among the lampstands was someone like a son of man dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet, with a golden sash round his chest. His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and his voice like the sound of rushing waters.”  (Revelation 1:13-15)

It is generally agreed that the man is a vision of the victorious Christ leading people into immersion in the life of the Spirit.  This is about being led to some new style of worship or denominational emphasis.  We can’t have Christianity without the Holy Spirit.  We can’t have revival without him and we will never be free, full or fruitful until we get into this gracious river.

It’s no good as Salvationists that the outward ceremony of baptism is not a necessity because Jesus came to bring the inward reality of baptism in the Spirit if we don’t claim it ourselves.  Our stance on sacraments only stands if we live a baptised in the Spirit life and our life really is Christ’s broken bread and out-poured wine!

2. Go deeper 

So often we have become too afraid to give our all to Jesus Christ. We reason within ourselves that, if we don’t commit to the work fully then we won’t be found guilty of failing in our commitment to Christ.

Many step into the water, get their feet wet. At this point in our walk with the Lord we still behave the way we want to but Ezekiel gives a picture of a person who had gone so far from the shore that he could no longer walk back. The current was so strong and the volume of water was so great that Ezekiel was in over his head. Still God was carrying him and there was no danger of the Prophet drowning. God was still in control of the water and of the life of the prophet.
Most Christians will never experience the joy, fulfilment, trust and love for God that comes with this kind of commitment because they love the safety of the shore too much. Revival isn’t for the ankle-deep people, because they will never catch the vision for what God wants to do. They will never have complete trust and faith in God to accomplish those things that seem so impossible. They will only sit by and grumble because the corps isn’t growing or because they don’t “feel anything” as though it was God’s fault, the corps fault, their families fault, the officers fault.

Revival isn’t even for those who will get knee-deep. There are some who may sense that God wants to accomplish something great in their lives. They may even catch a glimpse of the vision that God has for their ministry, but they won’t take the step towards what they see.  The church will experience revival and the individual Christian will only become all that God has intended for them to become when they give up to God in total surrender and commit their lives to Him without reservation.

At the swimming depth, the river takes us wherever the river flows. The river controls us. We do not control the Holy Spirit. It is a picture of a Christian yielded to the Holy Spirit.
“The greatness of a man’s power if the measure of his surrender.” (William Booth)

3. See healing

When the Lord had taught this lesson of surrender and dependency to Ezekiel he asked him to look at the river again.  “Son of man do you see this? (v6)

The picture of the river is set in the Jordan valley and the river flows east through the desert into the Jordan Valley, where it enters the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea lies about 16 miles in a straight line to the east of Jerusalem. It has no outlet. The water of the Sea is much heavier that other seas. The weight of the water is due to the very large quantity of mineral salts which it holds in solution. This means nothing living can exist in this sea and yet in Ezekiel’s vision, the River of God can bring life to even its dead waters.

There is no spirit so dead, no life so sin-filled, there is no soul so depraved, there is no life so separated from God that it cannot be revived by encountering the life-giving love of God.

When the river of God met the sea it turned salt water to fresh.  If we don’t hold back but flow in the river of Holy Spirit anointing then when our lives touch others, it will help them change their attitude.

When there was healing then there was also growth. 

 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
A river not only has a source but a work to do.  Rivers with the aid of   weathering and mass movement wear away the land and re-deposit the eroded material lower down in their valleys and ultimately in the sea.   Geologists call this the energy of the river.  It is the amount of work a river can do.  For us there is a great deal more work that the River of God wants to do in our lives.  Like the pebble in the stream God wants to smooth off our rough edges, he may want to re shape us,

We need the river.  The river stands for the power of the Spirit today.  If we trust in our own resources we will put all our energy into survival, so we cannot spare any to give fruit.  We become dry, with nothing to give.

What is more, when God moves close in times of blessing, we cannot benefit from it, we cannot enjoy it, we cannot receive the blessings that God wants to give us, because we have so adapted ourselves to living on our own resources that we struggle to receive from him. We can sit here while others are being moved by God, experiencing his blessing and we spend our time thinking about what we are going to do next, or what has happened in the week just gone and the blessing of God does not touch or move us in the slightest. We do not need to be afraid or get out of the river because God’s river only ever flows into the ocean of his love. 

God bless

Carol