Okay, we're there in Ezekiel chapter 47, look down into your Bibles at verse 21.
It says, afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house and behold the 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.
And the title of this sermon this morning is Christians in Deep Water, Christians in
Deep Water.
Now here in chapter 47 of the book of Ezekiel we're actually dealing with the description
of the temple of God and the temple of God more specifically the temple of God that we
see in Revelation chapter 21 through 22 and this is actually a description that spans
from chapters 40 to 48 in the book of Ezekiel and this is basically the latter end of that
description with the river of life issuing forth out of the temple and go to Revelation
chapter 21 if you would hold your place here in Ezekiel because we're going to come back
to that we're just going to look at some parallels there but what we see here in chapter 47 is
actually a foreshadowing of that tabernacle that temple that new Jerusalem that we're
going to see in the new heaven and the new earth.
Now let me explain something briefly before we read Revelation 21 and 22.
The book of Ezekiel is very cryptic and when you read it it's very cryptic it can be very
enigmatic so let me just break down what the book of Ezekiel is all about into three simple
sections for you to understand okay.
Section number one of the book of Ezekiel can be described as the indictment against
Israel.
It's basically God explaining to Ezekiel how to preach to Israel because of their sins
their abominations etc. and chapters 1 through 11 basically deal with that the indictment
against Israel.
Section number two of the book of Ezekiel is dealing with the judgment that's going
to come upon Israel and not just upon Israel but also all the nations and then ultimately
the fulfillment of that judgment upon Israel so section one is the indictment against Israel.
Section two can be described as the judgment that's going to come upon Israel and all the
other nations and the fulfillment of that judgment to Israel and then section number
three is simply the restoration of Israel the restoration of all nations and ultimately
the restoration of the earth okay because of the fact that he's given this promise that
one day there's going to be a king who arises the government shall be upon his shoulders
and of course that restoration is not referring to you know when Israel became a state okay.
The restoration is referring to the new heaven the new earth and of course the beginning
with the millennial reign and the new heaven and the new earth so those are the three sections
of the book of Ezekiel so whenever you read it just keep your eyes on that and keep your
mind on that recognizing that it's just dealing with those specific topics there okay.
Now this morning I want to break down the meaning of the vision that we see in Ezekiel
chapter 47 and explain in practical terms how we can apply it to our lives as Christians
and as I mentioned in chapter 47 we see this vivid imagery of the river of life issuing
forth from the house of God now look at Revelation 21 and verse number one it says and I saw
new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there
was no more sea and I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down from God out of
heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a great voice out of heaven
saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall
be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God skip down to verse number
21 it says in verse 21 and the 12 gates were 12 pearls every several gate was of one pearl
and the street of the city was pure gold and it was transparent glass as it were excuse
me as it were transparent glass and I saw no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it so in Ezekiel chapter 47 we see a physical temple and that
physical tabernacle also described as the house of God in Revelation 21 is described
as a tabernacle it's described as a temple but it's no longer that physical building
now the building or that tabernacle that temple is Jesus Christ himself it's God okay look
at chapter 22 if you would verse number one of 22 it says and he showed me a pure river
of water of life which is exactly what we see in Ezekiel 47 a river of life issuing
forth from the house of God clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of
the Lamb in the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was there
the tree of life which bear 12 manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations and there shall be no more curse
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him
so this is actually a parallel passage to what we see in Ezekiel 47 because of the fact
that in Ezekiel 47 you see the river of life issuing forth from the house of God and we
see that it comes to the ankles to the knees to the loins ultimately encapsulating the
entire body going forth and there are trees on either side of the brink of the river it's
going forth to the east country it's going into the desert it's going to all the earth
and it's bringing life to everything that basically it touches everything it touches
brings forth it's it's basically bringing it to life and so we see that parallel there
in the foreshadowing is the fact that the river of life that we're looking at in Ezekiel
47 and Revelation 21 22 is the Holy Spirit because Jesus said this the words that I speak
unto you they are spirit and they are life the flesh profiteth nothing the words that
I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life now go back to Ezekiel 47 if you
would Ezekiel 47 now when we think of the tabernacle when we think of the temple or
the house of God in the New Testament this is described as our body right we are the
temple of the Holy Ghost you know we're bought with a price we are not our own the Bible
often describes our physical body as being the tabernacle the temple we are the the house
of God so to speak that houses the Holy Spirit because when we get saved the Bible says that
we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance unto
the redemption of the purchased possession so the presence of God the Holy Spirit of
God actually lives within this physical tabernacle in a spiritual sense okay look at verse number
one again it says afterward he brought me again into 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 the right side of the
house at the south side of the altar now when Ezekiel is looking at this vision a man is
guiding him to look upon these things right he's guiding him he has a reed he's measuring
the waters and he's showing them these things and before he even gets to the depth of the
river okay before he gets to that he sees that the water is issuing forth from the house
of God from where from the altar right and as I mentioned I believe that the water represents
the Holy Spirit because of the fact that over and over again you see the Bible often synonymously
talking about the Spirit as water okay let me give you some examples Isaiah 44 verse
3 says this for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground
I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thy offspring first Corinthians
12 13 says for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body John 6 63 says this it is a
spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speak unto you they
are spirit and they are life so what I actually believe that Ezekiel 47 is referring to here
is the believer in the ministration of the Spirit okay and even though we're indwelt
by the Spirit we obviously understand that the Bible commands us to what to be filled
with the Spirit right actually commands us to be in deep waters it actually commands
us to be filled with the Spirit to be empowered by the Holy Spirit of God in order to not
just do great exploits but just please God you understand and here I believe in Ezekiel
47 that Ezekiel represents the believer okay and the goal of every believer should be to
be filled with the Spirit you know in order for you to succeed in the Christian life in
order for you to lead people to Christ to lead your home to be a good employee to submit
to your husband to obey the commandments of God it requires for you to be filled with
the Spirit now often we think well you know being filled with the Spirit is just this
great thing this great exploit you know that just requires so much work well not necessarily
it just requires for you to just be filled with the Spirit you see the source of your
power already dwells within you right because we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
you say what's required for me to be filled with the Spirit what is it that impedes me
from being filled with the Spirit well we have the flesh okay the barrier that impedes
us from doing that which is pleasing unto God is the flesh the Bible says for in me
that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing we have the flesh constantly warring in our
in our members it's constantly you know fighting against us when we want to read the Bible
when we want to pray when we want to preach the gospel you know the inward man delights
in the law of God the inward man wants to do that which is pleasing unto the Lord but
then you have the flesh who often quenches the Spirit right now what's the solution to
that what's the solution to the flesh well the Bible tells us we have to put the flesh
to death right we have to mortify therefore the members of our body which are upon the
earth the Bible says fornication uncleanness inordinate affection idolatry which is covetousness
I mean over and over again we see the command to die to self okay the Bible says in Romans
6 in verse number 12 let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that you should
obey in the lustre of neither yield you your what members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto death but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead for sin
shall not have dominion over you for you're not under the law but under grace so over
and over again we see this command to walk in the Spirit but in order to do that you
have to put to death the flesh you have to mortify the deeds of the body you have to
make sure that you don't allow the members of your body to have dominion over you he
said why are you preaching this well because it's it's a it's a friendly reminder to us
all of the importance of not giving into the flesh starve the flesh amen in order for us
to be filled with the Spirit something has to die now think about this the river of life
is issuing forth from the house of God and where's it coming from the altar what is the
altar for the animal sacrifices now in the New Testament we don't have animal sacrifices
but you know what we do sacrifice humans like what well the Bible says I beseech you therefore
brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice gotcha wholly
acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service so even though we're not putting animals
sacrifices on the altar we're not killing animals and and and doing that to atone for
the sins of the body in the New Testament what is commanded of us to do to be a living
sacrifice okay now what's the problem with the living sacrifice well the problem is this
is it keeps coming off the altar you put yourself on the altar one day you're like man I'm gonna
commit to God today I'm gonna read my Bible today I'm gonna pray today I'm gonna do that
which is pleasing today and then tomorrow you're off the altar you come back to life
okay that's why the Bible says you have to be a living sacrifice what does that mean
you have to die say with me now daily you have to die every single day you have to mortify
the deeds of the body every single day today cannot be lived based upon the successes the
spiritual successes of yesterday just because you had a good spiritual day yesterday doesn't
mean you're gonna have a good spiritual day today why because today is a new day and the
Bible tells us if any man come after me let him deny himself and what take up his cross
and follow me well look folks Jesus said that to his disciples prior to his crucifixion
right and he's telling them hey you need to take up your cross what does that mean you
need to go die go die pastor tells congregation to go die hey you need to die you need to die you
need to take up your cross right deny yourself and follow the Lord and requires your death now
don't take me out of context you say well I'm gonna go commit suicide now you know what I'm
saying is you have to be a living sacrifice and before Ezekiel can go through the waters
before the the unnamed individual in Ezekiel 47 who's showing them the description of the
house of God before he can take him through the waters the waters are issuing forth from what the
altar which is where your sacrifice in order for you to be filled with the Spirit in order for you
to walk in the Spirit in order for you to be you know empowered by the Holy Spirit of God you have
to die it requires your death okay and that's not an easy truth for a lot of people today you know
because why because we like living right you know we unfortunately we live in our flesh and we have
ideologies that have been embedded into our flesh we have preconceived ideas that have been embedded
to our flesh we have sinful habits that are embedded into our flesh and it requires for us
on a daily basis to put that to death but you know what the Bible says in Matthew 16 24 then said
Jesus unto his disciples if any man will come after me oh I already read that John 12 24 says
this verily verily I say unto you except the corn of wheat fall to the ground and die it abideth
alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit you see if you're gonna produce fruit which
ultimately is actually produced by who the Holy Spirit in order for you to reach the brink of that
water that we're gonna look at in just a bit where trees are growing on either side and there's fruit
growing on either side it requires for the corn of wheat to fall to the ground and die and you
my friend are the corn of wheat that needs to die okay I'm not threatening you I'm just explaining
from a spiritual perspective the importance of dying to self understand and partly part of the
reason why sometimes Christians struggle in the Christian life is because of the fact that they're
just not walking in the spirit they're not being led of the spirit they're just constantly feeding
their flesh they're feeding their flesh they're feeding the old man and the old man is strong and
therefore they often are discouraged or defeated etc now look at verse number one again let's let's
read it again it says afterward he brought me again into 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 the right side of the house at the south
side of the altar verse 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 so notice that it says that the man is leading Ezekiel right now I
believe this is a picture of the Holy Spirit as well so just as we're gonna see Ezekiel in the
water we also have the Holy Spirit out of the water leading Ezekiel through the water so what's
the significance of that well just in like manner we're in dwelt by the Holy Spirit we're also
supposed to follow the Holy Spirit as well right he's supposed to lead us on a day-to-day basis
look at verse number three and when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward he
measured a thousand cubits and look what it says and he brought me through the waters the waters
were to the ankles so he's walking through this in his vision he's walking through this path where
there's water and now the water is coming up to his ankles okay he's walking through it's not very
deep it's a little shallow it's coming up to his ankles now if the water represents the Holy Spirit
Ezekiel represents the believer and the waters are coming up to his ankles what is Ezekiel doing
he's walking in the spirit which is where everything starts in order for us to live a Christian life
where does it start you walking in the spirit go to Galatians if you would chapter 5 hold your place
here in Ezekiel I'm gonna reach you from Romans chapter number 8 it says for they that are after
the flesh do mind the things of the flesh but they that are after the spirit the things of the
Spirit verse 13 tells us for if ye live after the flesh ye shall die oh what if you know I'm already
saved what if I just don't go to church I don't read the Bible I don't pray I don't serve God I
don't do any of those things I just kind of fulfilled the desires of the flesh and of the
mind you will die so it's better for you to die to self on a daily basis mortified the deeds of
the body than you to literally die physically because your mind of the things of the flesh for
if you live after the flesh ye shall die but if you through the Spirit do mortified the deeds of
the body you shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God just
as the Son of Man Ezekiel was being led by the unnamed individual there verse 15 for ye have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby
we cry Abba Father look at Romans are scuba Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 so the man is leading
Ezekiel the Son of Man through the waters the waters are to his ankles he's walking in the
Spirit what is the spiritual significance to that verse 16 this I say then walk in the Spirit and
ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit the Spirit
against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that
you would but if ye be led of the Spirit ye are not under the law pastor me here how do I know
at this moment if I'm walking in the Spirit where you're in church aren't you the Spirit
led you to the church so actually no my husband led me here my parents led me here yeah but your
obedience is you being in the Spirit as you walking in the Spirit you know in the more
that's why it's important folks that in the morning the first thing you do is read the Bible
to put yourself in a frame of mind of walking in the Spirit throughout the day right and what
happens when you walk in the Spirit you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh you know there's
there's Christian groups out there that say well once you get saved you will never desire to sin
ever again you know you'll conquer your sin you will never do those things ever again and batteries
come included and you'll never desire to do wrong and wrong because what we see here is that there's
actually a war taking place within your members the Bible says that the flesh lusteth with the
Spirit no against the Spirit the Spirit against the flesh these are contrary the ones of the
other so you cannot do the things that you would this is why Christians often are frustrated amen
I mean this is why the apostle Paul was frustrated in Romans chapter number seven
because he said it would in me that is in my flesh God no good thing he said
oh wretched man that I am who shall be able to deliver me from this body of death
amen but here's the thing the more you walk in the Spirit
the less likely you are to fulfill the lust of the flesh okay and if the Spirit is leading you
through the waters that come up to the ankles you're going in the right direction right
if you're going away from the waters and you no longer feel the waters under your feet
you're no longer in church it's no longer taking you to the house of God
it's no longer taking you to the word of God it's no longer taking you to the saved of the unsaved
the house of the unsaved individual to give them the gospel then you're probably going in the wrong
direction you need to go east right so being in shallow waters just shows you you're in the right
you're going in the right direction well I'm just not where I where I would like to be yeah but are
you are the waters up to the ankles though I feel like I'm not where I need to be I feel like I'm
not where I need to be spiritually I feel like I'm just kind of I'm a little discouraged I'm
not where I need to be but hold on a second are your ankles wet if your ankles are wet you're
going in the right direction it's when you're dry then you're facing the problem it's when your feet
are dry it's when you know you're no longer in that shallow end walking in the water walking
in the spirit then you're probably in dangerous quarters because that probably means you're
fulfilling the lust of the flesh not the spirit you're not being led of the spirit
and what's the outcome of that death death to you death to uh God's purpose for your life death to
your marriage death to your children death to God's will for your life death death death is
what the result is of walking away from the east country okay so we see that you have the house of
God issuing forth from the house of God is the river of life that comes from the altar where
you're supposed to die and when you put the put the debt the members of the body and you're going
in the right direction once you start feeling that water hit the ankles then you know okay
this is the right way this is the right direction hey if this sermon is bothering you right now
you're going in the right direction if you're like i feel like you're talking about me good
you're going in the right direction now if this doesn't bother you at all if you're just kind of
completely just eh i guess yeah whatever yeah what am i going to eat after this
who's going to be a part of that smoothie contest are we all going to be able to have
smoothies is lucille's really that worth it folks your mind of the things of the flesh
literally right but you know what if you in if you're in church and in the message of God
is is causing you to be uncomfortable if you feel like i'm stepping on your toes it's a good thing
because that means i'm in the water with you and i'm close enough to step on your toes amen
amen and you're walking in the spirit you see walking in the spirit is not just oh it just
feels so great it's just lifting up your holy hands and you know often walking in the spirit
is actually very uncomfortable right it's very uncomfortable because the word of God pierces
through you it's a sword it's not a butter knife it's not a feather that's coming to tickle your
ears what is it it's a sword it's a double-edged sword and the word of God is quick and powerful
sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces even to the dividing of sunder of soul and spirit
joints in the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts of the intent of the heart the word of
God is piercing through your mind telling you this is for you oh this is uncomfortable but
hold on a second you're barely at the ankles though so what picture do we see there go back
to ezekiel chapter 47 if you would ezekiel 47 this is a good place to start in the shallow end
walking in the spirit in the river of water where it comes up to the ankles splash around a little
bit look at verse number four well let's let's read again for verse number three it says when
the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward he measured a thousand cubits and he
brought me through the waters the waters were to the ankles first number four again he measured
a thousand and brought me through the waters the waters were to the knees now this is interesting
so now he's going a little deeper right it's going a little deeper you know it's getting a little
deep there and it's coming up to his knees now what is the spiritual significance to this well
go to ephesians chapter three hold your place there in ezekiel 47 because we're going to keep
coming back to that portion of scripture that's our text for the morning but we're going to compare
with other scriptures in the bible so go to ephesians chapter number three if you would
well i want you to notice that prior to the water coming to his knees the bible says that he's
leading him through the waters and if you've read the bible from cover to cover especially in the
book of psalms you often see that term being described leading through the waters as meaning
leading through trials being put through the fire and through water because why because water is
often also a picture of being overwhelmed right the bible says in psalm 66 you're in ephesians
chapter 3 psalm 66 and verse 12 says in whom we have boldness oh this is the wrong one isaiah 43
excuse me isaiah 43 verse 2 says when thou passes through the waters i will be with thee and through
the rivers they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through fire thou shall not be burnt
neither shall the flame kindle upon thee now here's the interesting thing is that when you
walk in the spirit you're not fulfilling the lust of the flesh right you're walking in the
spirit and when you do it long enough eventually you know where the spirit leads you into the
wilderness you eventually go through some tough times i mean think about this you know ezekiel
is known as the what son of which represents also jesus and the unknown individual who's leading
ezekiel can be referred to as a spirit just as the spirit led jesus through the what wilderness
to be tempted of the devil you understand everyone following
so when you walk in the spirit eventually you're going to go through waters
you see this is not a prosperity gospel health and wealth gospel is like well just give your life
to christ and you're going to be rich and wealthy and prosperous you're going to have a six-pack
you're going to everything is just going to go great you're going to be fit you're going to be
happy you're going to have find the spouse do you want your business is going to succeed
that's not always the case sometimes you actually die physically for serving god
sometimes you actually go through difficult times why because now that you're walking in the spirit
the spirit leads you into the wilderness to fight against who satan himself
right now you have a target on your back so as you walk through the waters the deeper you go
the longer you stay walking in the spirit the more likely it is it's going to bring you to your
knees because when you go through tribulation that often does what it brings you to your knees
and what is the significance significance of that prayer look at ephsians chapter 3
and verse 12 it says in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by faith of him
wherefore i desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you which is your glory for
this cause what does it say i bow my knees into the father of our lord jesus christ
of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named that he would grant you according to the
riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by what his spirit in the inner man
so look folks the longer you're in the christian life the longer you walk in the spirit
eventually you're going to go so deep that it's going to come to your knees and those
trials are going to bring you to your knees you're going to pray and how do we receive the strength
to go through the waters and the trials and the fires and the difficulties of this life
on our knees in prayer the bible says in luke chapter 18 verse number one men aren't always
to pray and not to faint see people think in the world oh yeah you're going to bring that person
to their knees that's a sign of weakness no actually in the bible getting on your knees
is a sign of strength because praying is a quality of strength when you go through a difficult time
and you pray it shows that you are walking in the spirit when you go through a difficult time you
don't hit the bottle you don't drink alcohol you don't smoke weed you don't get out of church
you don't go do you know fill in the blank but rather you pray it's showing that you're walking
in the spirit because now the spirit as you're walking in the spirit the spirit now leads you
into the wilderness sometimes so why would god lead me into a wilderness to make you stronger
that's why right look folks if the bible says we have access to this power how can you even know
what the power is like if not if you're not put through some sort of trial or tribulation
just to have access to it right it's like you have all this power it's just like well
when are you going to need it when when you go through a tribulation
when you go through a trial or difficult time
go back to ezekiel if you would so it'll bring you to your knees the bible says the second
corinthians 12 verse 7 and lest i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of revelation
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be
exalted above measure for this thing i besought the lord thrice that it might depart for me
and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made for thee
my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore
will i glory in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure
in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for christ's sake
for when i am weak then am i strong so what do we see here so far what we see is the temple the
house of god the river of life issuing forth from that temple from the altar where you're supposed
to die be a living sacrifice as you begin to walk and follow the man also known as the holy spirit
he's going to take you through the rivers of water to come to your ankles you're going to be walking
in the spirit the further you go it's going to take you to your knees because eventually you
will suffer persecution doesn't the bible say yea all that will live godly in christ jesus
shall suffer persecution right and it's going to bring you to your knees but you have power in
prayer amen look at verse number four again he measured a thousand and brought me through the
waters and the waters are to the knees and again he measured a thousand and brought me through by
the way anytime you go through a difficult time he always will bring you through he will always bring
you through the waters were to the loins now this is where it gets a little uncomfortable
you can deal with the waters to your ankles you deal with it to your knees when it starts coming
to your loins now you're just like okay now we're getting really deep into this so he's bringing up
through the waters and it's to his his his belly his loins okay now what's the significance of this
well the bible tells us go to uh uh ephesians again chapter six the bible says in john 738
he that believeth on me as the scripture had said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water
so as you walk in the spirits come into your ankles it's going to lead you
to your knees and as you go deeper after the knees it's going to come to your loins
walking in the spirit you're going to pray when you go through tribulation after you pray you go
through tribulation then you know tribulation work with patience and patience hope
and hope maketh not ashamed the bible says and it and it comes to the loins now your loins are
filled with the spirit okay now out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water what does that
mean look what the bible says in ephesians 6 14 stand therefore having your loins gird about
with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness what i believe this is referring
to is the fact that now that you're going through some trials now that you've been on your knees
now that you've read the word of god now you're capable to actually preach to other people
whether it be the gospel or whether it be your family now out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth the mouth can speak out of your mouth shall flow rivers of living water okay the bible
says in luke 6 45 a good man out of good treasure of his heart bring it forth that which is good
okay and the bible says in proverbs 4 23 keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the
what issues of life so once the the water reaches the loins what happens now now you're filled with
the spirit now you're it's to your loins and now you can preach the word of god you can talk about
the word of god god gives you knowledge god gives you wisdom god gives you prudence you can lead your
wife you can be a blessing to your children you can be a blessing at your work you can win souls
to christ's wife because out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water death and life the
bible says are in the power of the tongue and when you allow the waters to reach your loins
now your loins are gird about with the truth now you can talk about the bible the bible says this
that if any man speak let him speak as the what oracles of god this book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth but thou shall meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to
do according to all that is written therein for then thou shall make the way prosperous and then
now shall have good success over and over again it refers to the fact that we need to allow the
word of god to come out of our mouth paul the apostle said pray for me that i may have utterance
that i may boldly speak the gospel right open my mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of
the gospel that can only happen if the waters are to your loins
because at that point now your loins are gird about with truth
now out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water okay
go back to ezekiel
so i said the loins was pretty uncomfortable and it is but actually this is the the most
uncomfortable one it's one thing when you're waiting you know in your ankles
you know it's one thing when it comes to your knees it's one thing when it comes to your loins
it's another thing when you can no longer feel the ground under you right right it's another
thing when you're actually swimming in the water verse number five says afterward he measured a
thousand and it was a river that i could not pass over for the waters were risen waters to swim in
a river that could not be passed over wow what is he saying he's saying this river extended as far
as the eye can see there's there there wasn't an end to it go back to uh ephesians chapter three
if you wouldn't what do we see here what is this a picture of now he's filled with the spirit now
he's encompassed with the spirit now he's just swimming in this river and the bible says that
he could not pass over it doesn't matter how far he swam he could swim as far as the eye can see
he would never see the end of that river never because he says i could not pass over it the
waters were risen waters to swim in a river that could not be passed over there's no end to this
kind of reminds me of when i almost died before i the day before i got saved
uh my friends and i were like let's go to the ocean and this is late at night like let's swim
out to the ocean let's see how far we can go you know when you're young you're just stupid right
you're just dumb and you're just like because here's the thing is like all right let's let's
see how far we can swim out into the ocean and basically what we're saying like let's see how
far we can go until we get tired but here's the thing what about the swim back right
idiots and we're like swimming we're going we're going and then my friends pass me up and i remember
looking behind me the lights were really small and i'm like this is a really bad idea and i'm tired
my lungs are burning so i'm like you know i need to rest so i went underwater you know just trying
to touch the ground no ground i'm like well let me go a little further to see if i can just shove
myself back up i'm going under nothing i'm like great now i just expended more energy
looking for the floor and i couldn't find it and finally i i swam back obviously because i'm here
right i made it guys but i was like my vehicle is i don't know how many miles away and i literally
crawled onto the beach my lungs burning there's my mouth is filled with salt and water and everything
but this reminds me of this because he's he's he's in the waters and he's swimming in the river
and he's like i couldn't even pass over it extends so far it goes into all the world
the bible says be not drunk with wine wearing his excess but be filled with the spirit how much can
you be filled with the spirit really there's no limit but let me say this is that because of our
flesh it places a cap on us there's always a limit look at ephesians chapter 3 verse 17
notice the wording okay could not pass over it says in verse 17 that christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of christ which what
passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of god so this is what we see
in ezekiel 47 he says this couldn't be even passed over and ephesians 3 it tells us it's
a love that passeth knowledge it goes beyond our comprehension he's in deep water
go back to ezekiel
6 now this is interesting because in verse 6 it says and he said unto me son of man hast thou seen
this then he brought me and caused me to return to the brink of the river so he's like you know
you're only going to go so far why don't you come on back now when it comes to jesus the bible says
that god gives the spirit to jesus without measure you understand because he's obviously the son of
god but we have you know limits we have limitations we have the flesh that impedes us from going
further sometimes until obviously we've received the redemptions of our body then we no longer have
those limitations so what do we see here we see basically the ministration of the spirit in our
lives how does it work well sometimes people are just to the ankles they're walking in the spirit
but if you're walking in the spirit you're going in the right direction and eventually it'll lead
you into the wilderness because it's going to bring you to your knees and if you surpass that
it's going to come to your loins you're going to have your loins gird about with truth and then
when you surpass that eventually you're going to be in the waters you're going to be in deep water
swimming swimming in the spirit okay minus the charismatic thing but you know it's in the bible
and it's basically the imagery that god wants to give to us to say hey
this is where i want christians to be i want it to be in deep waters
you know i want i want you to be in deep waters where you no longer feel the floor
right it's a little scary i want you to be in deep water i want you to be filled with the spirit of
god i want you to be in deep waters in order for you to fulfill god's will for your life okay
now let me give you some practical application i want to share that with you i was thinking
about this yesterday but i think i think i was watching a video on deep sea diving and this is
this story came to mind and i was reading through the story i saw those all those parallels there
but let me give you some a really really brief uh practical application to this and the application
that i'm going to give you doesn't necessarily stem from the doctrinal teaching that we just
went over but you can find this teaching anywhere else in the bible okay because when you think
about this a third application a layer to this would be this you know this can really picture
how deep a christian wants to go into the christian life right i mean think about this
when you have a pool party there's all these different levels of people aren't there
there's people that don't even care how cold or how hot the water is they're not feeling it
they're just cannonball right into it they just dive right in they don't even care they can go
in with all clothes if they want to they don't care others are just kind of like you know they
put their feet in the water a little bit just like you know and it's too cold so they kind of
sit and they put their feet in a little bit others what they do they'll get in but they'll
just come in you know on the on the uh the shallow and let it come up to their loins a little bit
right no one's laughing because it's you
i'm not preaching against you i'm preaching about the spiritual application to you okay
so you have christians who sometimes they go they go and they just want to you know paddle
their feet in the water take off their socks and they're not going to put on their swim trunks on
they're just going to you know do this in the water a little bit but then you have others
they're like you know they'll put their legs in you have others that will get into the the
the three-footer okay let it come to their loins a little bit but then there's others
who just go all in they just dive right in and i want to encourage you to be that last one
amen too many christians today not necessarily in our church i'm just talking in in general
they're basically how much are they involved in the christian life just to the ankles
they're only to the ankles some even surpass that and get to the knees a little bit
some may even get to the loins but rarely we see people who actually go all in to the christian
life and my encouragement to you this morning is this go all in oh but it's cold don't worry
about it because once you jump in uh it's actually colder outside than it is inside
isn't that true when you get in the water and it's freezing cold if you're in there and you're
swimming you know it's freezing it actually warms up right the christian life warms up folks
amen you know when you when you jump on in it's just like oh man church sunday morning sunday
night thursday and bible reading and reprobates and oh man this is like so much water it's just
overwhelming but then the more you do it the more you're like actually this is this is actually i
don't want to get out it's actually colder outside you know people they come and they're like this
place is crazy that pastor's crazy this place is nuts out there is normal but once you come in
and you're in here for a little bit then you're like actually out there is crazy those people out
there are nuts you know they come in here and they're like you guys are so cold-hearted all
those things you say about those people about the lgbtq you guys are so cold but then you're in here
and you see how warm we really are and then you actually recognize actually out there is pretty
cold actually people are cold-hearted out there actually people are cold-blooded they're cold
blooded right out there but what does it require it requires for you to go in deep and stay in a
little bit now look a lot of times people that go in to the water it gets all nice and warm and then
they hop out and then they just can't take it out there and they're just like i need to jump back in
because it's too cold right well you know sometimes that happens with christians as well when sometimes
they backslide they get out of church and they go out there and they realize how terrible it is out
there and you're like you know i need to get back into church i need to get back into my bible i
need to get back into prayer i need to get back into just a christian life that's where i want to
be that's where i need to be so here here's my encouragement to you just come back in the water's
fine come back in go down deep well maybe i should just start slow a little bit just kind of you know
look folks at our church we just shove you in sometimes
i'm just not ready for it then get the little floaties
get the little ducky around you if that's what you need okay like i can't swim you know the best way
to learn how to swim is just going in that's literally how i learned how to swim i was like
seven maybe six or seven years old and uh we took classes on how to swim this is the class
that my brother gave me he grabbed me just threw me in the deep water
and my will to live taught me how to swim
that's abuse i'm i mean i'm fine a little bit you know
i remember he threw me in and you know i'm just like terrified and there there's there's a person
right in front of me and i'm just like i got to get to that person because they can swim
and i'm like and i bring my head out i'm like and they're like you're fine you're fine
and you know i realized hey i can swim start doggy paddle a little bit i'm like you know what
i am fine and then i just started swimming you know and then i'm almost died in the ocean and
stuff and you know but what i'm saying is this is that sometimes the best way to do is just jump all
in just come to church just read get get a bible read it learn how to pray learn how to go soul
win and let me just say this regarding soul winning okay i know that's a daunting task
sometimes and people hear about it like soul oh man going out there and preaching the gospel
well let me just make let me just explain something to you okay if this is your first
time going out you don't go knock on the door in your first day or your second day you didn't even
go knock on the door for like a month or two months right so don't think like hey come
sony what does it like oh man i don't want to talk to anybody i don't even feel comfortable
doing that i don't even know if i'm gonna like be able to nod what am i gonna say i don't know
my bible well don't worry you are a silent partner right you go with someone who is experienced and
you see how they do it you see how they get cussed out how they get the door slammed on their face
you see the answers that they give you get to enjoy but just watching but you know what you
are you also receive rewards because of that and so what's the message today well i wanted to show
you ezekiel 47 because it's such a great chapter with a lot of great symbolism and layers of
doctrine there but i also want to give you this practical application as well okay if you're at
the ankles time to move up to the knees folks if you're at the knees it's time to move up to the
loins and if you're at the loins i mean you're halfway there just and go all in amen inspire
has another word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for ezekiel
great man of god who just was led of the unnamed individual here and just went all the way and
what a great example that was i pray that you'd help us lord to swim in the rivers of life in the
spirit so we can do great exploits for you and that great exploit doesn't necessarily mean see
hundreds of people saved sometimes it just means fulfilling our biblical roles reading our bibles
learning doctrine having joy in our life having peace repenting of sin and i pray lord that you'd
help us lord to do so and it's not bad if someone comes out of the water as long as they remain
as long as they keep the waters to their ankles to their knees to their loins
and don't get out completely and i pray lord that you'd help us to do so in jesus name we pray amen