The Temple and Living Water
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
The Missio Dei (Mission of God)
The Missio Dei (Mission of God)
Owens face was one of absolute defeat when I set him on the mission of cleaning his room.
We had had friends over for the day and all the kids decided to pull out every possible toy in Owens room.
“dad, there is too much stuff - i’ll never get it clean”
To tell him to clean everything right now is not helpful when there seems to be an impossible task ahead of him.
rather, its better to introduce him to the life changing principle of gradualism
The Principle of Gradualism
The Principle of Gradualism
the principle of gradualism says, don’t worry about the whole room right now, first, start by cleaning up your legos.
And when he’s done with his legos tell him to focus on picking up his clothes, followed by nerf bullets, and so on.
Owen’s mission was to clean his room, and understanding the principle of gradualism helps him accomplish his mission
Models
We all have missions before us, and like Owen we often can become discouraged because the mission may seem impossible.
Your mission this week maybe
to conquer that load of laundry
To save enough money for vacation this summer
To get a promotion at work
To faithfully read your bible everyday
On verse, on chapter at a time.
To understand how to accomplish a mission, we first must understand what the mission is, and then understand each subsequent mission needed to accomplish the great mission.
Church Plant
My mother-in-law asked me a couple months ago
If the mission of World War 2 was to take Berlin, Germany, soliders first had to figure out how to take the beach of Normandy, France.
Without understanding the mission of Normandy you’ll never be able to get to Berlin.
And without understanding Berlin you won’t know why you need to take Normandy.
To succeed in the mission, you have to understand the mission, and how the mission is to be accomplished.
To succeed in the mission, you have to understand the mission, and you have to understand
And this is what our sermon series is all about.
We want to understand what the mission of God is, and how God has called to be apart of this mission.
So, What is the mission of God? What is the mission of God’s people?
What is the mission of God’s people?
For what purpose do those who call themselves the people of God actually exist?
What are we here on earth for?
And to answer this question we first have to understand, “Whose mission is it?
I don’t have a mission
You don’t have a mission
The Church does not have a mission
Rather the mission that is before us is the Mission of God - God himself has a mission.
And God has called a people to join him in the accomplishment of his mission.
Every mission of the believer must flow from the mission of God.
9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ
10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
The Divine mission, the mission of God, is to unite all things in him
Christopher Wright says, “And as part of that divine mission, God has called into existence a people to participate with God in the accomplishment of that mission. All our mission flows from the prior mission of God.”
What he is saying is that the Mission given to believers arises from the heart of God himself, and is communicated from his heart to ours.
Does God give his church a mission or does God give his mission a church?
So as a church, we do not have the freedom to form our own mission, but rather we are to join God in what he is already doing.
What is the mission of God?
What is the mission of God?
What is the mission of God?
And how are we to join him in this mission?
The mission of god is to see Eden restored.
The Bible begins and ends with
There was no pain, no sin, no death, but rather perfect communion between God and man.
There is a river flowing
there is a tree of life
Likewise, the Bible ends with a vary simular picture.
God dwelling with his people - no pain, no sin, no death, but only perfect communion between God and man.
Likewise there is a river flowing
there is a tree of life
The main difference is that of size
The new garden of Eden, the new creation, is cosmic in its scale, its not just a garden in eden, rather the garden has turned into a city and eden now covers the whole world.
So what happened between the first garden and the second?
What happened between the first creation and the new creation?
well, instead of Adam and Eve advancing the kingdom of God throughout the world, they rebelled against the king and rather than his glory sin spread throughout the world.
And the Bible is about God overcoming sin and restoring his kingdom on earth.
The Bible speaks about the mission of God on nearly every page yet it uses different language, images and symbols to communicate its meaning
We see scriptures talk about mission of God as:
to see the redeeming, renewing, and restoring of all things to Christ.
Seeing the kingdom of God advance throughout the whole world
God uniting all things united in Christ
All things being brought into subjection to Christ
It is to see the knowledge of God cover the earth as the waters cover the sea
It is to see the whole world bow the knee to King Jesus
It is to see all the nations of the world blessed
It is making disciples of all the nations
It is to see the nations bringing tribute to the throne of God.
The mission of God is symbolized with
water, seeds, farmers, leaven, stones, plants and parties
seeds
leven
stones
plants
parties
So for the next five weeks we are going to be looking at the Mission of God so that we might have a greater confidence in what God is doing in our world today. And a clearer vision of what we are to be doing as individuals, families and as a community.
So if you would, turn with me to
1-11 The call of Ezekiel and the rebellion of God’s people
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Outline of Ezekiel
• Chs. 1–11—The call of the prophet and the plight of the people of Jerusalem in light of their sin and rebellion.
• Chs. 12–24—Oracles against the nation of Judah and its people for covenant violations.
• Chs. 25–32—Oracles against the nations.
• Chs. 33–39—Oracles of hope for both Israel and Judah.
• Chs. 40–48—Ezekiel’s vision of the new temple and the rejuvenated land of Israel.
12-24 Judgement of Israel
25-32 Judgement on the nations
33-37 hope for Israel
38-39 hope for the nations
40-48 hope for all creation
Chapters 40-48 is a vision and is packed full of symbolism that point to a greater reality that is yet to come.
In these chapter Ezekiel is guided by an angel through this symbolic temple being shown what is in store for God’s people in the future.
This temple is massive and point us forward to the temple that is
1 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar.
2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
Water coming from the Temple
Ezekiel’s vision from 40-48 is all about the glory of God being shone to the whole world.
And God showed Ezekiel a vision of a massive temple to symbolize this very point. As the temple was the dwelling place of the glory of God.
Eden
The throne of God in
water flowing from the presence of God is a symbol of God being the source of all healing and
So in this vision an angel brings Ezekiel to the door of the temple.
And Ezekiel notices something… There is water coming from below the threshold of the door of the temple.
The water moved down to the south side of the temple and then traveled east from there.
The Garden of Eden was considered a temple according to
after all, the tabernacle, the temple, and the new creation all follow the designed according to the garden of Eden.
The Garden of Eden was the dwelling place of God (like the tabernacle and the temple after it)
And what we find in is that there was a river flowing from Eden
The garden of God
The source of living water
The first temple ()
The dwelling place of God
The tabernacle and the temple were designed according to Eden.
Adam and Eve’s job when they were placed in the garden of Eden was to cultivate the ground and advance the boarders of Eden to the ends of the earth.
The first missional text is seen in
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.
We will look more at the garden of Eden next week, but for now we see that Eden, like the temple in Ezekiel’s vision had water flowing from it
likewise we see water flowing from the throne of God in .
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
The
The four winds
The four corners of the earth
So we see in the first creation water flowing from the dwelling place of God, and in the new creation water flowing from the dwelling place of God.
The four horns on the alter
And now Ezekiel see water flowing from the dwelling place of God.
Four is a cosmic number.
Notice that Ezekiel makes mention as to how the water is flowing (in verse 2)
2 Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.
The water wasn’t gushing, it wasn’t flowing with any sort of great quantity, rather, it was trickling
The water was dripping.
Why is this important?
Look with me at vv.3-6
3 Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep.
4 Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep.
5 Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through.
6 And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river.
The angel takes Ezekiel on tour of the water that is trickling out of the temple
Going eastward the angel led Ezekiel 1000 cubits (1/3 of a mile). And the water began to form together and was only up to his ankles
going another 1000 cubits, he measured the water again, and it was now up to his knees.
And another 1000 cubits its up to his waist
And finally the angel led him another 1000 cubits, and it was so deep and so wide that he could not pass through.
What started as just a small trickle in the temple, in just over one mile has now become a massive river that could not be passed through.
This is how God works - he begins small and then gradually adds increase.
In fact, this is one of God’s favorite stories to tell
The first promise of redemption, after the fall, was that the seed of the women would come and crush the head of the serpent.
It took God 4000 years to fulfill this promise.
Think about how the spread of the gospel
Jesus -> disciples -> early church -> etc.
The bible was written over the course of about 1500 years. God took his time writing the bible.
He then called a few disciples to follow him
Think about the growth of the Christian experience
the stream here is very shallow.
slow growth toward maturity
by the time Jesus went to the cross the whole church could meet in the upper room together
It was 4000 years between the time when God promised to send the seed of the women who would crush the serpents head and the moment that promise was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross.
God works on reveling sin and turning our hearts to love him
Even when pentecost came, there was an expansion, but it was still very small.
Knowledge of God
Israel waited for 400 years in Egypt before God sent Moses to redeem God’s people
Through persecution the church began to spread
we are to be people who are forever learning, for we serve an infante God.
the waters got a little deeper
says, “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness, but it patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
EXAMPLE**
My son Owen is not one who enjoys waiting
he is boy of action, he wants things done now, he does not want to wait. He is a boy after my own heart.
We live in a world where we want everything right away. And business is often ranked on how fast you can provide a customer with your product
we want fast food, fast internet, fast computers, fast shipping, fast service
We live in a time where we expect everything to happen immediately.
We want food
I think our desire for immediacy and are inability to wait has distorted our view of the Mission of God in our world.
We become so concerned with the here and now that we forget that God is not a God who hurries, but rather is patient as his mission continues to advance.
Even Peter picked up on God’s apparent slowness
says, “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness, but it patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
So often our perspective of God’s work in the world is like turning on the movie the Wizard of Oz for only a few seconds in the first five minutes - thinking that its a black and white movie about farmers in Kansas.
We get so focused on the hear and now we miss what God has been doing throughout history and we lose hope of what he has promised to do in the future.
What if in the course of history we are still in the early church? What if God’s patience extends for 10, 20, or 30 thousands more years?
What if in the course of human history people will struggle to remember who came first, CS Lewis or Martin Luther?
This is how the kingdom of God is viewed in the bible, it starts small, and gradually grows.
Mustard Seed - smallest of seed grow into the biggest of garden plants
Leven - Just a pinch of leven will travel and grow until is causes the whole loaf to rise
The Rock that becomes a mountain in
31 “You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening.
32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze,
33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
34 As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
31-
This small stone that strikes the statue, which represents the kingdoms of the world, will itself grow into a great mountain that will fill the whole world.
Later Daniel says that this stone is the kingdom of God that will never be destroyed.
So we see the principle of gradual growth all throughout the bible
from Adam to Christ
The mustard seed and the Levin
The Stone that grew into a mountain
And the waters that flow from the temple in Ezekiel’s vision
It started small, as a trickle, and then became this great river.
So What does this river do? Does the river, like the mustard seed and the stone in represent the advancement of the kingdom of God?
The Living Waters
The Living Waters
7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.
9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.
12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
7 As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8 And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh.
The sea that the water flows into is the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is more than 1,300 feet below sea level, and is called many things in the bible, The Eastern Sea, The Sea of Salt and the Sea of Arabah.
Modern Israelis call the body of water the “Sea of Death”. This is an appropriate designation given that the salts and minerals in the water prevent any plants or fish from surviving there.
Modern Israelis call the body of water the “Sea of Death” (Yam-ha-mavet). This is an appropriate designation given that the salts and minerals in the water prevent any plants or fish from surviving there.
In bible times the dead sea and the surrounding area was a complete wai
Yet, when the water from the temple reaches the dead sea it does not turn salty, rather, it makes the dead sea fresh.
The text literally says that the waters of the temple heal the waters of the dead sea.
This vision is not the only place where we see water flowing from temples in the bible
According to Eden was God’s first temple
Tabernacle and Temple are constructed according to the pattern of Eden.
And there was a river that flowed out of eden that eventually broke off into four rivers
The river brought the healing power of Eden to the rest of creation which had not yet been subdued.
The River flowing out of Eden symbolized what Adam and Eve were to do, they were to take the boarders of Eden and expand the garden until it covered the whole earth
Likewise, in we see a river flowing from the throne of God
And in the same way this river brought the healing power of God’s throne to the rest of creation.
Everywhere this river went there was healing.
We see this same sort of cleansing/healing power in the life of Jesus
When Jesus comes into contact with Jirus’s daughter, or the man with leporasy, or the women with the issue of blood, according to the law, upon contact they all would have made Jesus unclean.
However, rather than their uncleaness being passed to Jesus, Jesus healing power was passed to those who were ceremonially dead.
In the same way, the healing power of the water from the temple heals, or makes alive, the dead waters of the dead sea.
Not only do the waters from the temple heal the waters of the dead sea, but it also transforms the barren land back into the garden of Eden.
9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes.
10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
11 But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt.
12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
Ezek 47.
Wherever the river goes there is life. For this is truly living water.
The dead sea has become like the Garden of Eden
For it now has trees with all kinds of food
The tree’s will not wither nor will they die, but they will bear fresh fruit every month. Why? because the water for them flows from the sanctuary
Not only does the river bring healing to the sea and to the land, but it also produces many kinds of fish.
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Throughout the prophets, and particularly Ezekiel, the sea and the fish are symbols of gentile nations.
Gods people are people of the land, and the gentiles are people of the sea.
However, in this vision we see the waters of the temple bringing healing and blessing to the sea and to the fish.
This is a sign of the gospel going to the nations.
For this is the mission of God, to unite all things in himself.
The book of Ephesians is in large part about how God has brought together two people and made them one.
This is the power of the living water that flows from the temple in Ezekiel
It makes alive and transforms everything it touches into its Edenic state.
For there is true living power in the water that flows from the temple.
You know, its interesting how this vision provided Israel with hope for the future.
One of the main feasts that Israel would celebrate was called the feast of tabernacles.
On the feast of tabernacles thousands of Jews would come to Jerusalem and party for seven days.
They would make tents for themselves and camp out around Jerusalem - the tents represented the tabernacles which was the portable tent that God dwelled in before the temple was made.
And during the feast there would be a time when the High Priest would fill up a bucket of water and he would dump it out near the threshold of the temple and let it run down the stairs.
This symbolized the vision of Ezekiel and would be a reminder for all the Jews of the living water that would one day bring healing and life to the people and the land.
The gospel of John is in large part structured according to the feasts.
In fact, in John chapter 1 John connects Jesus to the tabernacle itself.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:
dwelt literally means tabernacled.
And this is not the only time in John’s gospel that we see Jesus related to the temple
In Jesus says,
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”
21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body.
John 2:19-
Jesus calls himself the temple
This becomes a point of tension throughout the gospel of John. Jesus is the new temple and he is doing away with the old temple.
In we see 52 verses given to the feast of tabernacles, the same feast where the priest would pour the water out symbolizing .
Well, Jesus helps us understand on the last day of the feast…
Look with me at 8
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
In dramatic fashion Jesus is telling everyone that the vision of is fulfilled in himself.
Jesus stands up having already identified himself as the new temple in chapter 2 and says, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
For he is the true temple the Jews were waiting for, he is the one from whom flows rivers of living waters.”
So if Jesus is the temple, who or what is the living water?
39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
From Jesus, the true temple, comes the Spirit, the living water that brings healing to the nations.
Where the Spirit goes, he brings life.
When we are saved, the Spirit of God breaths life into our dead state, and gives us new life.
And as the people of God continues to grow, so the mission of God continues to advance.
The waters continue to get deeper and deeper.
This is how the mission of God works
It starts small, just a trickle
it gradually grows, like the mustard seed and the levin, it gradually grows to where its ankle deep, then knee deep, then waist deep, then it becomes so great that you cannot cross it.
So the Mission of God began with Jesus, then it spreads to the disciples, then the early church, down through the flow of history to us today sitting here.
I mentioned how is not the only time in the bible where we see water flowing from temples
Water flows from the temple of Eden
Water flows from the throne of God in Revelation
And each time we see water flowing from a temple it brings with it cleansing and healing
Yet, there is one more example of when water flows from a temple that i want to show you
And the water that flows from this temple symbolizes the ultimate healing that is to come upon the earth
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
For Jesus is the temple Ezekiel saw in his vision.
And the water that flows from the temple bringing healing to the world is the same water that flowed from the side of Christ.
For it is the death and resurrection of Christ that brings ultimate healing to the world.
Each week we are sent with a benediction, we are sent to bring the message of the gospel to a lost a dying world.
continues to spread,
We go through the power of the spirit to bring the living water of the gospel to those who have not yet tasted the grace and mercy of Christ.
continues to push back darkness,
This is our mission. To see the whole world healed by the power of the gospel.
continues to bring life wherever it goes.
Not just peoples souls, but also relationships, ethics, business, education, politics, everything that has not yet been restored by the water that flows from the temple.
