In the month of July, the Holy Spirit in His graciousness ushered us into an experience of deeper dimensions. And from the first leadership fellowship of the month of July till today, He has been taking us and calling us with His measuring line from one deep dimension to another. And today, by His grace, we would be looking at yet another deeper dimension that He would want us to step into. The Bible says the glory of the latter will be greater than that of the former. And that's exactly what the Holy Spirit is doing with us this morning. I believe so strongly in my spirit that what God is about to do today would launch us into a dimension that we would not be able to recover from in the name of Jesus.
Today, we are concluding on the series of THE DEEPER DIMENSIONS and we are looking at THE RIVER OF LIFE. When we started, we had a key text that we were looking at in the book of Romans, that the love of God has been shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, we came to realize by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit is a gift from God to us. God shows His love to us by the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the familiar verse we usually end most of our services with which we call the grace, in the book of Corinthians says;"the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit" So the love of God is expressed in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to us and in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
So, when we are talking about fellowship with the Holy Spirit it's not something that is different but it's all encapsulated in the love of God. For you to enjoy the love of God, you can't completely enjoy the love of God without the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You can't enjoy the love of God without the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Many believers shortchanged themselves because they don't believe in the Holy Spirit. Some denominations have factored that the Holy Spirit is a strange Spirit.
In fact, they have made their people know that anyone that operates in the gift of the Holy Spirit is one that belong to the falsehood. But the truth about the Holy Spirit cannot be over emphasized because He is the expression of God's love for us. That's why that verse says in Romans, “that the love of God is shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” So, we cannot say we have received the love of God when we have not received the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit went further to make us understand that the Holy Spirit from Ezekiel 47 is situated and always attracted to the east.
When the Holy Spirit goes out, He goes to the direction of the east, in the direction where formed men and women are and He fills them with Himself. And a classical example was what happened in the day of Pentecost at the upper room. When the Holy Spirit went in the direction of the east in the upper room, where the formed men and women that Jesus had raised and formed, where they were located. And out of all the locations in Israel at the time, when the Holy Spirit was going to move out in the day of Pentecost, He was only going in the direction of the east, the direction where the formed men and women are and He filled them. The Bible says and He filled the entire space and everyone that was in it.
So, we realize that the Holy Spirit is not for unbelievers, it's for believers. And believers are those that have been formed by God and have allowed God to make and form them. And they must be located in the east. And Scripture interpreting Scriptures, the Bible makes us to understand in Genesis that God planted a garden eastward in Eden. So, where God puts the man that He has formed, was in the east. A garden He had planted Eastward in Eden. So, the Holy Spirit moves in the direction of the east, in the direction where formed men are. And the Holy Spirit also took us on a journey of measuring line, that it is important for us to know that Every time He measures for us, He measures for us to come in alignment with the word of God. So, the Holy Spirit will always measure in the waters. The Holy Spirit would not measure on the rock; the Holy Spirit will not measure in the forest He will always measure in the waters because you have to follow Him through the Waters.
He takes you on a journey in the word so that your life will come in analignment with the word of God. And today we are looking at THE RIVER OF LIFE. We are looking at what it means to really be called into DEEPER DIMENSION. What God is saying to us when His deep is calling unto our deep? What is God saying when God is saying to us come up thither? What does it mean for our world when Jesus said “you are the light of the world, you are thesalt of the earth, you are a city set upon a hill that cannot be hidden?” What is the meaning of it? And how can we walk in the reality of it? The Bible says the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. There is a life in the word. I am sure you and I are tired of Christianity without power. I'm sure you and I are tired of living a life, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. I am sure you and I are tired of not having an expression of the life that is inside of us. And that's why the Holy Spirit is taking us on this journey this morning. And we are going to start by looking at Ezekiel 47, which is the major text for this series, we are going back to that book of Ezekiel, and we want to see what it means to encounter the river of life.
Ezekiel 47 we will read from verse 7-12. We read it last week and we are reading it again. There is something the Holy Spirit wants us to see. “When I returned, there, along the bank of the river” Please it is a long read but I want us to follow closely, there are salient truths in each of the verses that the Holy Spirit wants to point our attention to this morning.
“When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley” Let's go back to Ezekiel 1 so that we understand the context of the water we are talking about. “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east”The Holy Spirit inspires every Scripture, He will not repeat a particular location if it's not important. He won't repeat a particular location if it's not essential. And He won't repeat it if it's not something that we should pay attention to.
It says; “flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple faced east” The temple is facing a direction. "East." The water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, South of the altar. That's the direction of the water. Now let's go to verse 7. “When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region” Corroborating what we read in verse 1. Now let us continue.
“It goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its waters are healed. 9 And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river goes. 10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from EnGedi to EnEglaim; they will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12 Along the bank of the river.”
You will see that this experiences that we are talking about is always tied to the river, it's tied to the waters. “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Can we go to Revelations chapter 22 verse 1-2, Scriptures interpreting Scriptures.
“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
What is the difference between Ezekiel 47:7-12 and Revelations 22:1-2? God is repeating the same thing. But when John was going to describe His experience in Revelation 22, He said; "He showed me" an experience. So, the experience that John had was it on earth or in heaven? In heaven! So, this is a picture that was shown to John in the heavens. He said; "He showed me a pure river of water of life." Ezekiel 47:1, the Bible says; "water was coming forth the temple" it was streaming from the right side. And see what the Bible says, it says this crystal, clear water of life proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Who is the Lamb of God? Jesus! Who is seated by the right hand of God? Jesus! This water is proceeding directly from the sanctuary, from the throne of God. And it said the particular angle through which the water is coming from is the right side and the Bible called it a pure river of water of life.
What does this mean? From God the Father proceeds the word. Who is the word? Jesus, and Jesus is the one seated with the Father at the right side. So, from the throne of God and of the Lamb proceeds the word and the word is called a pure river of water of life. How can the heavenly experience that John saw connect with the earthly promise that Jesus gave? How can there be a heaven on earth experience if earth does not connect with heaven. How can there be the result that was shown in Ezekiel 47:7-12 if earth does not connect with heaven? God gave us a platform. Jesus made a promise and I want us to see it in John 7:38-39. So that when the Holy Spirit starts speaking, we will understand what He is saying to us.
Jesus speaking here; “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”Are we talking about the same water or a different one? Verse 39 it says; “39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Is Jesus glorified now? Has the Spirit been given? So, when Jesus was talking about out of the heart will flow, what was He talking about? The Holy Spirit! Another translation says; out of your belly will flow rivers of living water. So, the pure water of life in Revelations 22:1 is the Holy Spirit. For earth to connect with heaven; earth must connect with the resources of heaven. For earth to connect to heaven, we must connect to the Holy Spirit. And that's why the Bible makes us to understand very clearly in that Ezekiel 47 that there is something about the direction of this river, this river and this water we are talking about, does not flow anyhow, the river does not flow because you are holding a Bible, because you have a copy of Gideon student Bible. Or because you have a copy of Big Dakes Bible, the river does not flow in the direction of your big Bible. It emphasizes and emphasized again that this river flows to the east. And we are going back to that Ezekiel 47 because we read all these Scriptures so that we will understand that this is not an Old Testament experience, this is the experience that Jesus has promised. This is an experience that is real. If you are not convinced, follow me to John 4:14 so that you will see that Jesus continues to repeat this. Because this is the real deal and the dimension in which we must operate.
John 4:14 when Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman, He said; let me start from 13 “Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again” “but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” Because sometimes we think the water, He is talking about here is the word is just the word. No! There is a water I will give him because if He was talking about the water of the word, He will say you will drink of Me, because He is the word. He did not say you will drink of Me. He said; I have the water. That's why the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ. The water I shall give him will never thirst. So, He is talking about the water of the Spirit.
“But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”That is the water of the Spirit and that is the water that connect us, that is the water that was said of in Revelations 22:1, the pure crystal-clear living water or water of life. The Bible says it flows directly from the throne of God and of the Lamb. You can't have the Spirit of Christ without Christ. You can’t experience the Spirit of Christ without Christ.You can pray in tongues and form that you are Spiritual, but if that water is not coming from Christ it's not the Holy Spirit. It is a false Spirit.
If Christ is not glorified, then that Spirit is not the Holy Spirit. Because we live in a world where there is so much falsehood, where people run in the direction of miracles signs and wonders, where people are so consumed by the well of Jacob, they keep visiting the well. And they keep laboring and Jesus said “come to Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” What is that rest? That rest is the water that Jesus was talking about in John 4:14, the water that I will give you that you will not thirst again. The water that I will give you that will become in you a fountain that springs up. I want us to go back to Ezekiel 47, because we want to see why we must connect. Why must we connect to the river of life? That's why it's called a river, it's not stagnant.
So, if you are having a stagnant experience, you have not connected to the river of life. You have been born again for 10 years and there is no growth, there's no flow, you have not connected to the river of life. The river of life is a flow. That's why when Jesus is always speaking about Him, He is always talking about Him in present continuous tense. He is springing, He is living, He is flowing, because He is not stagnant. And that's why we must yearn to connect to the river of life. Some of us what we do is; we create a channel, we connect and we quickly create a channel and put tank there and say “Holy Spirit just fill this tank and I don't need you again.” But that is not how to connect. You connect just like Ezekiel 47:2-8 makes us to understand, you connect and you continue to connect. You continue to move with the measuring line. You continue to align until you get into the river of life where the Bible says; it's too deep to swim; an overflow experiences.
I want to read that John 4:14 in the passion translation. It says “but if anyone drinks from the living water, I give them, they will never thirst again and will be forever satisfied.” Is that not rest? So, if you are dissatisfied as a child of God you have not connected to the river of life. When you connect to the river of life, you are forever satisfied. For when you drink the water, I give you, it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit springing up and flooding you with endless life. For earth to connect to heaven, for us to have a heaven on earth experience, people will say “in this world we continue to strive there's no rest in this world.” Don't follow them to say that, except you have not connected to the river of life. There is rest. The Bible says in the book of Hebrews, “there remained a rest for the children of God.”
There is a rest in the Holy Ghost, that's why Jesus said;“come to Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Jesus will not promise rest if there is no rest on the earth. He didn't say I will give you rest in heaven; I will give rest here on earth. Because I will connect you to the river of life. When you get connected to the river of life, there is rest. You rest from all your labors, you start working in the labors of Jesus and of His Spirit. He said it's a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit springing up and flooding you with endless life, endless rest. And why is this so important to us? We are still going back to Ezekiel 47 but I perceive the Holy Spirit wants to lay this solid foundation in our spirit.
There is rest in God. That's why Jesus said to that woman in John 4 that why have you been so troubled? After that particular 14 we read, Jesus now told her go and call your husband, you have been troubled, you have not had rest in marriage, you have been going from one man to the other, I want to give you rest. And she said “I don't have a husband.” And He said “you have spoken well.” Because the man you are with is not your husband. You have not gotten to the place of rest. And the woman screamed because she had been laboring all her life. So, it is painful that children of God are laboring when they are supposed to walk in rest. You cannot rest until you connect to the river of life.
It's in the river of life that you have rest. And that's why it says in that John 4:14 in the passion translation, "for when you drink." When you drink is about time. The river is available but when you drink the water I give you it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit springing up and flooding you with endless life, flooding you with endless rest. You are just at rest, nothing missing, nothing broken. It’s the Spirit of peace. You know what to do because it's the Spirit of wisdom. When you need to get something done, it's the Spirit of power, He enables you, He empowers you. When you need money, He's the Spirit of riches. When you need the blessings of God to be activated upon your life, He's the Spirit of blessing. He's the one the Bible says in Proverbs; "the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and adds to sorrow" it's Him the Holy Spirit. It's not it. "Him" He is a person.
I want us to see Luke 17, because when we are talking about heaven on earth experience Jesus emphasized it here again. Luke 17:21 but I will begin from verse 20.“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come?” The Pharisees were labouring, the prophets have spoken about this kingdom. Because when this kingdom comes, we know that we will have heaven on earth experience, when will this kingdom come? When will God allow His kingdom to be established on the earth? He answered them and said; “The kingdom of God does not come with observation”You have been counting the stars you have been doing star gazing. The kingdom of God is not there, you have been looking around looking for the time when there would be eclipse that's not it. It does not come by observation. See what Jesus said; “nor will they say, See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Heaven on earth experience is within you. You can draw from your inside; heaven on earth. From your inside; out of your belly, out of your heart. You can draw heaven on earth. When Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, He told them, “when you pray, pray like this; our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” That line of the Lord's prayer is an invitation of the Holy Spirit. There is no time you pray it that the Holy Spirit does not show up. Because He is the one that makes the Kingdom to come. And His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is the one. That's why Jesus said; the kingdom of God is within you.
That was the life that Jesus exemplified for us. Lazarus died, He was stinking three days and Jesus appeared at the tomb of Lazarus. And He told them to roll the stone away. Jesus did not ask for angels, Jesus did not call fire. What did Jesus do? Out of His belly! He spoke out of His belly. He called the death to life out of His belly. He said “Lazarus, come forth.” And was Lazarus sleeping? No! The man that died three days, tied and embalmed; that was stinking but Jesus called heaven on earth experience. That's why He said “as I am so are you.” When He was saying it, He did not say we should go and make our hair look like His own. As I am, as I call heaven on earth, as I draw from the abundance of the river of life in me; so will you do on earth.
The river of life is the river of rest. Once you connect to that river there is rest in your life. Because God made it clear, He said; Jesus the Lamb of God, He died to receive for us power, blessings, strength, might, wisdom, riches, and He listed all of them and the Bible says it's the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead that quickens our mortal body. So, when we are looking at this experience in Ezekiel 47, this experience is heaven on earth experience. I want us to see it very quickly. It says; “When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other.” In Psalm chapter 1 the Bible says; “blessed is the man that do not walk in the path of sinners, or seat with the scornful, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in it he meditates day and night, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. His leaves will not wither, and his fruit will not fail”
Is it not the same thing? See it said "I saw many trees" Who are those trees? The trees of righteousness because the river is the river of righteousness. In revelations 22:1-2, He called the tree of life, that the tree of life was planted by the river on this side and on the other side. We are also the tree of life. Because we carry the life of God in us. And we are the trees of righteousness; He said He saw many trees.“Then he said to me: “This water flows toward the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea”‘When it reaches, does it not talk about time? Does it not talk about process? So, when that water flows to the eastern region, it goes down into the valley. It will look as if the water will not flow into the sea. And this is a picture of your life, the Bible says that those that are born of the Spirit they are like the wind, you don't know where they are coming from, you don't know where they are going to but you will see their effect. And that's the same thing the Scripture is saying here.
The water coming directly from the throne of God, from the sanctuary it flows into the eastern region, it flows into our lives then it goes into the valley then it looks as if we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit. It looks as if we are not carrying fire; it looks as if we are not carrying light. We look ordinary but we carry heaven on earth. And see what it says "and enters the sea." Eventually the river in us will enter the sea, because the sea talks about a large body of water. It talks about the world. It said when it reaches the sea the waters are healed. That is heaven on earth experience for us. And it did not stop there. It says; “And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the rivers go”
We now become an embodiment of the river. Wherever we go, anything that is living, anything moving, shall live. Why? The waters go there. You enter into the house of someone that has been struggling that the devil has been oppressing, the person is part of everything that moves. Once you step in there, because you carry that river of life, everything shall live. That business that is dead shall live. That child that is dead shall live, that health that is dead shall live, and that is our life. It says; "there shall be a great multitude of fish" because this water go there. The reason there is result is because of the life we carry, the river, the water we carry, there is result. Peter and John said to the man at the beautiful gate, “look at us silver and gold the things that you are getting from the well of Jacob we don't have to give to you but such as we have (because we have a river in us that springs) out of our belly shall flow to you” because that is what we have.
In John 4 Jesus could have given that woman money, Jesus could have just prophesied, and say woman I know you are having marital issues and your marital issue is solved in the name of Jesus go and be fruitful. But that's not the life that we have been called to. Jesus was showing us an example of the life that we must live. There is a need in the lives of people that is bigger than money. Money cannot solve their problems. There is a need deep seated that makes them cry in the middle of the night, it's not money. It's bigger than money. There are things money cannot solve. It takes the Holy Spirit. The whole world is in need of the river of life. But who will carry it to them? You and I! The whole world is in need of the river of life who are the carriers? The ones that is located in the eastern region. They are the ones that the water will flow to. It will enter the valley and enter the sea.
We are the ones, we are the carriers of the river of life, like Peter and John you look at people in the eyes there is something you carry that they need that they are not aware of it. They said silver and gold we don't have but such as we have, we give to you in the name of Jesus rise up and walk. Your business that have crumbled, you can make money yourself I don't need to give it to you, there is an empowerment. The blessing of the Lord, the power to make wealth. I carry it. And once I impact that river into you it will start springing in you. And that's why we are the carriers of that river; we are the carriers of this life. Anywhere you get into and things don't change ask yourself, are you connected?
When I became born again and I receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, my Father used to be sick, I told God that “I can't carry your life and there is death in my father’s body, I can’t carry your life and death is threatening my household.” I was not married then and I told the Holy Spirit, this is the kind of experience I want in my family and the Holy Spirit said go home, I left school, I was in the university then and I went back home and when I got home and started to pray in the Spirit. Go round your house pray in each room and I started praying in the Holy Spirit. And He said what you are doing is that you are releasing life here. And wherever you release life, death will get out. Life and death cannot cohabitate. That’s why you must understand what you carry.
You carry life and this is the life that God has called us to. Deeper Dimensions, the kingdom of God is within you. Heaven on earth is within you. I love a song by Micah Stampley. It talks about heaven on earth. When he started the song, he said; “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, His anointing is empowering, the kingdom of the Lord is within me And He is calling me to the heavenlies.” And that's the same thing God is doing for us. The Spirit of the Lord is upon us why, because we are in the east. The Spirit of the Lord comes with anointing. His anointing empowers us and the kingdom of the Lord is within you. Don't be looking for God's kingdom everywhere. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the kingdom.
That's why the Bible says He has put His seal upon us. And who is the seal of God? The Holy Spirit! He is the seal of the kingdom. The kingdom of God is within you and it's calling you. Will you respond to that call this morning? If you have not received the Lord Jesus as your Lord and savior, that's the first response, you must have, because you can't connect to His Spirit without Him. You must connect to Christ to connect with the Spirit of Christ. This is a time to say “Jesus come into my heart” because He is standing at the door and knocking. If you will open the door of your heart to Him, He will come in and dine with you and your heart His home and release His Spirit to you. Then you will be able to call to the heavenlies.
Do you know what we do in the heavenlies? We are the ones that decree. Whatever we say here on earth is established in heaven. Why? There is a river in us. We decree a thing and it is established, why? There is a river in us. When Peter and John were speaking to that man, they weren't guessing. They were commanding because they know that their words have become law, why? The kingdom of God was within them. They were establishing the kingdom of God on the earth. Are we responding to that call?
I just want us to bow down our heads and pray responding to that call. And say “Holy Spirit I am ready, connect me to the river of life, Jesus connect me to the river of life.”
Amen!
