The Power of the River
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The Power of the River
The Power of the River
1 Now he brought me back to the entrance to the Temple. I saw water pouring out from under the Temple porch to the east (the Temple faced east). The water poured from the south side of the Temple, south of the altar.
2 He then took me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the gate complex on the east. The water was gushing from under the south front of the Temple.
3 He walked to the east with a measuring tape and measured off fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was ankle-deep.
4 He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another fifteen hundred feet, leading me through water waist-deep.
5 He measured off another fifteen hundred feet. By now it was a river over my head, water to swim in, water no one could possibly walk through.
6 He said, “Son of man, have you had a good look?” Then he took me back to the riverbank.
7 While sitting on the bank, I noticed a lot of trees on both sides of the river.
8 He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh.
9 Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds.
10 Fishermen will stand shoulder to shoulder along the shore from En-gedi all the way north to En-eglaim, casting their nets. The sea will teem with fish of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Mediterranean.
11 “The swamps and marshes won’t become fresh. They’ll stay salty.
12 “But the river itself, on both banks, will grow fruit trees of all kinds. Their leaves won’t wither, the fruit won’t fail. Every month they’ll bear fresh fruit because the river from the Sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”
Ezekiel 47:1-
What would you think about a person that sees what what no one else can?
What would you think about a person that sees what what no one else can?
This was a
A lot of things come to mind
++Super strange
++Super spiritual
Men may use a different terms do describe them.
We need people of vision
We need people of vision
We need people of vision
Vision
A cartoon once showed two Eskimos fishing through holes in the ice. One of the Eskimos had made a hole like you might expect to see, about the size of a manhole cover. The other had dropped his line in an immense hole that seemed to reach to the edge of the horizon, in the shape of a whale!
Keywords: Faith; God’s attributes, will; Vision
Vision that looks inward becomes duty.
Vision that looks outward becomes aspiration.
Vision that looks upward becomes faith.
Keywords: God’s attributes, will; Vision
Vision
A cartoon once showed two Eskimos fishing through holes in the ice. One of the Eskimos had made a hole like you might expect to see, about the size of a manhole cover. The other had dropped his line in an immense hole that seemed to reach to the edge of the horizon, in the shape of a whale!
Keywords: Faith; God’s attributes, will; Vision
Vision that looks inward becomes duty.
Vision that looks outward becomes aspiration.
Vision that looks upward becomes faith.
Keywords: God’s attributes, will; Vision
Ezekiel was
Ezekiel was
++A visionary
A visionary
++A man of strength
++Called to be a watchman
He was not called
++To watch people
++To watch the enemy
He was called to watch God
He was called to watch God
He watched God
++To see his character
++To see his power
++To see his person
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
Eze
When God reveals himself
When God reveals himself
We have a choice
++We can run away
++We can run to him
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower: The righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Proverbs
There is a safe place in God
++He created us
++He knows us
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
He doesn’t come to us
++We must come to him
++We need him
25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
He is the Source of Life
He is the Source of Life
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
God put Ezekiel
++It was a hard place
Nothing to Difficult
++It was a hopeless place
It was a
He gives
Acts 17:25
The revelation of God
++Does just move us
++It moves something in us
God does not just put you in a place
God puts something in you
He gives
++Life
++Breath
++All Things
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
It started at the House of God
It started at the House of God
Colossians 1l;17
1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
Before something can happen on the outside something has to happen on the inside.
Nothing can come out until something goes in
Not any house
This was the House of God
The Sanctuary
The Church
Nothing can come out until something goes in
You cannot give what you do not have
Acts 3
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
What did he have?
What did he have?
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
What did the have?
++They had boldness
++They had an experience
++They had been with Jesus
Boldness
++A Courageous Manner of Speech
++A Confident approach to God
This is the type of confidence demonstrated by Ezekiel.
2 Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
Something was happening in the House
Something was happening in the House
Something was happening in the House
Not any house
++This was the House of God
++The Sanctuary
++The Church
The power of the river
++Started at the house of God
++The Church
We cannot get complacent
We cannot get lazy
It is time for the
++Altar to burn again
++Worship to be more than a song
++Praises to arise
Let it be said
++There is something going on in the House
++We have not closed up
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.The decision has been made. I am a disciple ofJesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my presentmakes sense, and my future is secure.I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live bypresence, lean by faith, love by patience,lift by prayer, and labor by power. My paceis set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, myroad is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in thepresence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,ponder at the pool of popularity, or meanderin the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go untilHeaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,and work until He comes. And when He comes to getHis own, He will have no problem recognizing me.My colors will be clear. I am not ashamed of the gospel . . .
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
8 He told me, “This water flows east, descends to the Arabah and then into the sea, the sea of stagnant waters. When it empties into those waters, the sea will become fresh.
9 Wherever the river flows, life will flourish—great schools of fish—because the river is turning the salt sea into fresh water. Where the river flows, life abounds.
The purpose of the river
++Be a vehicle of Life
++Make the stagnant waters fresh
++Where the river flows, Life abounds
It all started
++With the Church
++The place where believers gathered
There is a river
++It is not water
++It is not runoff
++It is the water of the Spirit
John 7:37
37 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.
38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
We cannot
++Get complacent
++Get lazy
We must come to the river
We must come to the river
Now it is time for the
++Altar to burn with prayer again
++Worship to be more than a song
++Praises to arise
Let it be said
++There is something going on in the House
++We have not closed up
++We are still in the fight
The Power of the River
The Power of the River
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed."The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.The decision has been made. I am a disciple ofJesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my presentmakes sense, and my future is secure.I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live bypresence, lean by faith, love by patience,lift by prayer, and labor by power. My paceis set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, myroad is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in thepresence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,ponder at the pool of popularity, or meanderin the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go untilHeaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,and work until He comes. And when He comes to getHis own, He will have no problem recognizing me.My colors will be clear. I am not ashamed of the gospel . . .
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.The decision has been made. I am a disciple ofJesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my presentmakes sense, and my future is secure.I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live bypresence, lean by faith, love by patience,lift by prayer, and labor by power. My paceis set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, myroad is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in thepresence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,ponder at the pool of popularity, or meanderin the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go untilHeaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,and work until He comes. And when He comes to getHis own, He will have no problem recognizing me.My colors will be clear. I am not ashamed of the gospel . . .
The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line.The decision has been made. I am a disciple ofJesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down,back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my presentmakes sense, and my future is secure.I am finished and done with low living, sight walking,small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position,promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I now live bypresence, lean by faith, love by patience,lift by prayer, and labor by power. My paceis set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, myroad is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought,compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in thepresence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,ponder at the pool of popularity, or meanderin the maze of mediocrity. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go untilHeaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know,and work until He comes. And when He comes to getHis own, He will have no problem recognizing me.My colors will be clear. I am not ashamed of the gospel . . .
I won't look back, let up, slow down,back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams,chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I now live by presence, lean by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes.
And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.
I am not ashamed of the gospel . . .