Ezekiel 47:1-12
A Raging Trickle: Let the Water Flow
I. Introduction
-These two questions seem unrelated...
1. What kind of impact is God capable of in our world today?
2. What in the world is there to be thankful for?
-May I argue that they are connected.
-Today we have given God thanks for His impact in the life of Eula Lobb and the life of our church.
-Most of our T-giving tends to be self-centered.
1. Very little thanks is offered to God.
2. Mainly to the cook and the football coach, if your team wins.
-Ill. Instilling thanksgiving into my son
1. Bed time prayer...
2. "Thank you for Mommy, Hannah, Cat...."
3. "What about me?"
4. "And me?
II. Scripture
III. Background
-Chapter 1 is all about the fact that God’s glory/presence is what is really relevant... & now this!
-The last chapter (48) ends with "And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord is there."
-I want to start at the end of this river and work my way back.
IV. Where the Water Ends Up
-It goes all the way to the Dead Sea.
-Dead Sea
1. aka- Salt Sea
2. Tributaries in bring salt water, but no way for the minerals to leave.
3. Dead- b/c no fish or life can live in such a high salt concentration.
4. The only value during this time was the salt deposits.
-But when the water from the temple hit the Dead Sea... it came alive.
1. Living creatures swarm
2. Dead water is made alive.
3. Salt water is made fresh.
4. In fact it becomes a place where fishermen can earn a living!
-v. 9b "everything will live where the river goes."
-I believe that everywhere God’s presence is, there is life & healing!
1. The dead become alive!
2. The enslaved become free!
3. The wounded become whole!
4. The lost are found.
5. The salty death is made fresh!
V. The Banks of the River
-But even on the way God is at work.
-Before the water even got to the Dead Sea it says...
1. v. 9 "And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live...so everything will live where the river goes."
2. v. 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, b/c the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing."
-I think what we need is this river to run through our lives!
-Ill. Living in Eastern KY.
1. Hills & Hollers
2. A real fast, hard rain = a "gully washer"
3. The rain would land on the hill top and run down into the holler/gully and wash out leaves, dirt, debris, etc.
-We need a gully washer!
-Some of you need God in your...
1. ...marriage, family.
2. ...finances, workplace.
3. ...private place/behind closed doors
4. We’ll try everything but what brings real healing.
-The trees on the side of the river produce fruit every month!
-The leaves of the trees bring healing!
-Some have given God lip- service, when what He wants is your life.
-You can sit in a church on T-giving Sunday and say "thanks."
1. But some of you are thinking about your 401K (don’t you believe that God will take care of you?)
2. Some are thinking about your project at work.
3. Worrying about your grade at school.
4. Whether everyone will like the casserole you brought.
-Some of you won’t be in church next Sunday b/c...
1. ...you’ll be doing something "more important."
2. ..."on vacation"; working on a school assignment;
3. ..."tired" b/c you’re so busy;
4. ...etc.
-But look where this stream starts!
VI. The Door of the Temple
-It starts in the temple!
1. In the house of God.
2. In the sanctuary.
-Point: All healing starts with God.
1. All life begins in Christ!
2. All revival is introduced by the Holy Spirit!
-As short as our time is together, this could be (& is meant to be) the most important hour of your week!
1. Your feet should get wet!
2. The raging river should begin with a trickle right here!
-Someone said: "We need to remember that all renewal in the church or in the world flows by God’s grace from God’s presence and is not something we generate or control."
-Note: The river had no tributaries.. God doesn’t need anything else... So what are we waiting for?
1. No additives needed.
2. No need to add anything!
-It starts as a trickle in the temple and ends by bringing life to the Dead Sea!
VII. The Temple is Only the Beginning
-What happens "in church" is only the beginning!
-The water didn’t stay in the temple!
1. It flows out ward!
2. We are conduits & conductors of it!
-One commentator said it this way: "The imagery tries to state that the appearance of God in His sanctuary in the midst of His ppl does not create a self contained ‘holy place.’ All the preparation of the sacred place... is meant in the last resort to serve God’s intention to allow life & healing to flow out from there into the land. This life & this healing are to be effective precisely where unnatural disease & hostility [death & violence] are most obviously operative."
-The true Spirit of God cannot be contained here!
1. This may be where He starts His work... but it isn’t where it ends!
2. It leaves here with you!
-vv. 2b-5
-It just gets deeper from here.
1. Your walk with God can get deeper & fuller.
2. Broader and more intimate.
3. Richer and more divine!
-Ill. "He got in over His head."
1. Maybe this is one time that is a good thing.
2. Maybe too many are too timid to dive into the holiness of God!
-Point: Maybe sin doesn’t ‘snowball’ rather revival & renewal (from God’s glory) does!
1. In a thankless world...
2. In a world it may be hard to give thanks in...
3. Maybe God still holds His throne!
-Maybe I can truly be thankful!
-I am thankful for...
1. ...material blessings (house to live in, vehicles, bed, couches, food to eat, (but more than that))
2. ...a beautiful, talented, intelligent, Christian wife.
3. ...two healthy, perfect children.
4. ...a church family that truly cares for their pastor.
5. ...perfect health!
6. ...parents who love & pray for me, in-laws who love & pray for me (best in-laws a person could have)
7. ...two brothers who desire to serve the Lord, a grandfather who is a man of God.
8. ...a background/foundation in the church.
9. ...the opportunity to serve my Lord & Savior.
10. ...the ability to do this (take a breath)
11. ...the gift of speech to be able to say: "Hallelujah! Praise be to God!"
12. ...the agent of grace which is the Holy Spirit convicted me in a church service & I responded in obedience w/ repentance and was saved.
13. ...the fact that He has delivered [me] from the domain of darkness and transferred [me] to the kingdom of his beloved Son. (Col. 1:13)
14. ...the joy, peace, and hope that wells up in my soul from Christ!
15. ...for the river of healing & cleansing that has washed over my heart, soul, & mind and created something new.
-What are you thankful for?
-This trickle has become a raging river.
1. And it’s bringing healing!
2. And it’s bringing life!
3. And it’s bringing wholeness!
4. It is the living God to who we give thanks this morning.
VIII. Conclusion
-Revelation 22:1-2 "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."
-My feet are wet!
-What about yours?
-He is worthy of our praise!
-Let’s give Him thanks this morning!
Response
