In this sermon, the preacher discusses the visions that God gave to the prophet Ezekiel while he was among the captives by the river Chiba. One of the visions was of the glory of the Lord, where God was on his throne carried by the children. This vision led to God commissioning Ezekiel to be a prophet and go to the children of Israel to proclaim his word. The preacher also mentions other prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel, who each received different aspects of revelation from God.

This is Monday evening, June 3rd, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia. Ministry is given through Brother Stephen Kong. Lord, we do praise and thank Thee for gathering us together here tonight. And we do lift our hearts to Thee. We desire to speak Thy face, to inquire of Thee. Oh, we do want to speak. We do want to be transformed by Thy Spirit, according to Thy image, from glory to glory, that Thou mayst be glorified. We just commit this time into Thy hands and trust Thee to bless Thy word. In the name of our Lord Jesus, amen. We have been fellowshipping this time on the book of Ezekiel. We mentioned last night the visions of God, that God gave to Ezekiel while he was among the captives by the river Cheba. He was the vision of the glory of the Lord. The Lord was on his throne, and the throne was carried by the Chiladin. And with that vision, God called Ezekiel to be a prophet. And God commissioned him to go to the children of Israel to proclaim his word. He was appointed to be a watchman among his people. Then this morning we share together on one of the visions that Ezekiel saw afterwards, the vision of the valley of dry bones, and how God did the impossible. For these dry bones to come together, fitly framed and rightly joined, and the Spirit of God filled them to become a great army of the Lord. Now this evening we would like to conclude our fellowship on Ezekiel with the last few chapters of Ezekiel, from chapter 40 to chapter 48. We will not be able to read these chapters, but you just keep this in mind. We often say that there are four so-called major prophets in the Old Testament. Again we will say that these major prophets are so-called because their books are more bulky, that's all. But anyway, you'll find that the Bible tells us of these four prophets. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. And to each one of them, God gave something very special. To Isaiah, God gave him the revelation of the Redeemer. We call Isaiah the Paul of the Old Testament. Why? Because God gave him such a vision of Christ, the Redeemer. And to Jeremiah, God gave him a revelation of the new covenant. With the Redeemer, we have the new covenant. Not like the one that God made with the children of Israel. While God took their hands in the wilderness and tried to lead them. But God said, I will put my law in their heart. I will inscribe my law upon their mind. I will be their God and they will be my people. No one need to tell his brother, know the Lord. Because from the littlest one to the oldest one, they all shall know him in themselves. And God said, I will forgive their sins and remember their sins no more. The new covenant. To Ezekiel, God gave him a vision of the temple. The city house. The house of God. Because Ezekiel was basically, as we mentioned again and again, he was a priest. Even though he was called to be a prophet, and yet in his heart, he was always a priest. He was not just there to announce the word of God, to proclaim the word of God. But he was as a priest, trying to bring the people of God back to God. And to Ezekiel, God gave him a great revelation of the house and its services. Then of course to Daniel, God gave him a very special revelation on the kingdom too. One day the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of Christ. One day you'll find all the kingdoms will be destroyed. And the kingdom of Christ shall be established on this earth. So here you'll find with these four major prophets, you'll find the four different aspects of revelation. And when you put these things together, you'll have a complete revelation of what God intended to do. Chapter 40 to chapter 48 of the book of Ezekiel form a separate section. The occasion was, as you'll find in chapter 40, in the 25th year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, on the 10th of the month, in the 14th year, after that the city was smitten, on that same day the hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me hither. In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, and upon it was as the building of a city on the south, and he brought me hither, and behold there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bread, with a sackcloth in his hand, and a measuring reed, and he stood in the gate. And a man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eye, and hear with thine ear, and set thy heart upon all that I shall show you, for in order that it might be shown unto thee, of thou brought hither, declare to the house of Israel all that thou seest. It was in the 25th year of Ezekiel's captivity. And if Ezekiel was taken into captivity when he was 25, then he would be 50 at that time. And the city and the temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed for 14 years already. And 14 years were a long time. It seems as if when everything seemed to go on as usual, and what God had promised that he would restore his people didn't seem to come to pass, because he was 25 years of captivity. And 14 years after the city was destroyed, God's promise didn't seem to come. And it was during that very trying time, waiting to see the fulfillment of God's promises, that God gave Ezekiel these visions. So these visions must be of tremendous encouragement. Live of his faith through these visions. In the spirit, he was taken to a very high mountain. And there he saw a city. And actually the city was a temple. A city house. There are different views on these visions. Some people think that because so many years had passed, and nothing seemed to happen, So God brought Ezekiel back in the spirit to see once again the temple that was built by Solomon, in order to refresh his mind, that even though the temple was destroyed, and yet God just refreshed his mind by showing him once again, in the spirit, that temple in Jerusalem. That was one view. You know, when he was taken into captivity, he was 25 years old. So evidently he knew the temple quite well. And then God just refreshed his mind by reviewing to him the temple of Solomon. That was one view. But not likely. Because as you read the description of the temple of the city house, it was quite different from that which Solomon built. Then there was the second view. The second view was, God was showing the prophet, when the remnant shall return, when 70 years of captivity should be fulfilled, then they will go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the house. And that was the pattern for the temple to be rebuilt. But when the remnant returned to Jerusalem, what they built did not seem to fit with what Ezekiel saw in the vision. In other words, instead of a city house, it was just a small temple. And furthermore, in the rebuilding of the temple we had no evidence that the remnant really had the pattern which Ezekiel saw before them. Remember, it was not too many years, only 20, 45 years later, that they returned to Jerusalem. And if it was God's purpose that this was the pattern for the rebuilt temple, then surely they will have the pattern in their hands and they will try to build accordingly. But they didn't. Not only they didn't build such a temple, but they didn't even attempt to build it in such a way. So it cannot be that temple rebuilt by the remnant. So the third view came. And the third view was, before the coming of Christ, that is, the second coming of Christ, God will bring his people, Israel, back to the Promised Land, as we have already seen, to a certain extent. And before the return of Christ, Israel will rebuild the temple. And that was the pattern, said their father. So some people called it the third temple. And then some people say, no. Even the third temple will be destroyed. Therefore, this temple described by Solomon must be the temple built by the children of God during the millennium time. It was a temple in the millennium. So we can say, put these two views together. There will be a temple yet to be built. Whether it will be built before the return of Christ, or whether it will be built during the millennium time, we do not know. But it will be according to the pattern given to Israel. Now, brothers and sisters, I do not pretend to know. And I am not ready to argue whether there will be a temple rebuilt before the coming of Christ. It is true in different passages of the Old Testament. And even in the New Testament, there seems to be some hint about a temple. But we were never told how it was to be built. In many things, the temple that Ezekiel saw could not fit in, in many ways. Number one, if the temple is to be rebuilt, literally, and the sacrifices are to be restored, literally, then we have a real problem. Before the coming of Christ, God commanded his people to offer sacrifices. But all these sacrifices are types of Christ. The blood of the millions, countless, cattle and sheep were shed. But the blood of the goat and the bullock actually cannot cleanse us from our sins. They are just types of the blood of the Lamb of God. When Christ shall come, he is the sacrifice of God. And because he offered himself once and forever, the work of redemption is completed. Therefore, there is no need for the shedding of the blood, no need for sacrifice anymore. It is finished. And the whole book of Hebrews is based upon this very point. The old economy has passed. Why? Because the shadow has passed. Because Christ, the reality, has already come and fulfilled. It seems to be against the very principle if we say, even the Jews, they have to offer sacrifices, shed the blood of these animals, in order to atone for their sins. That is going backwards. And this seems to be in contradiction with the finished work of Christ. How can it be that there will be sacrifices since Christ has already been sacrificed? If the temple is to be rebuilt literally, then the sacrifice will be offered literally. And it seems to contradict with the very principle you find in the Bible. Number two. If you take this vision literally, then you find the temple to be rebuilt will be of such dimension. It is a city. We are told that if you are to build such a large place, Mount Zion is not able to contain it. It is just too big. Geographically, it is impossible. It is of such dimension. Unless geographically, the land in that area will undergo a great change. Otherwise, the vision that Ezekiel saw concerning the temple and the city and the land cannot be literally fulfilled. Impossible. Number three. Here you find in the vision given by Ezekiel. He separated the temple from the city. The temple stands in one side and the city stands on another side. They seem to be two separate things. But you know, the temple built by Solomon was in the city of Jerusalem. Furthermore, you find some law of offering, Mosaic law, was changed. It was different from what Moses had commanded. And with all these problems, it seems to me that you have to overcome lots of difficulties before you can really come to a conclusion that the temple will be literally rebuilt. Now I do not say that the temple will not be rebuilt. I don't know. But for the temple as Ezekiel saw, to be rebuilt accordingly, seems to have lots of problems. Lots of problems. Then number four. The fourth view. The fourth view is Ezekiel is not going back in his mind to be reminded of the temple built by Solomon. Nor is he trying to give the pattern for the remnant to return and build accordingly. Nor is it a temple to be rebuilt in the future, at the coming of Christ, before the coming of Christ, or even in the millennium time. No. Rather, Ezekiel saw in the vision the temple and all these things. And remember, it is a vision. And because it is a vision, it is not to be taken literally. But it is to be understood spiritually. In other words, God gives him a vision of the temple to show him all the spiritual realities that God has in him. The visions that Ezekiel saw in these last chapters are more apocalyptic than prophetic. In a sense, you'll find they are almost similar to the visions that John the Apostle saw at the end of the book of Revelation. Are you really thinking in terms of a city of such dimension in the future, and you will live there? Are you really thinking of walking on streets of gold? Are you really thinking in terms of the physical and the material? Even though that city will be of tremendous dimension, no city in the world is of that dimension, but with all the redeemed people throughout the centuries, the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints to be squeezed into that city, it would be pretty crowded. If you take everything literally. Now, brothers and sisters, remember one thing. To be taken literally does not mean that to be taken realistically. In other words, it can be real, and yet it is not literal. We believe that there will be a holy city. We believe that there will be a realm. Where the redeemed shall be eternally united with God. We believe that. And this city, this realm is represented by the New Jerusalem with all the features in its spiritual reality. How much more better if you think of walking on the streets of gold, transparent gold, in terms of the spiritual reality of having transparent fellowship in Christ. Isn't that much better than walking on golden streets? In other words, here God is showing to Ezekiel, and through Ezekiel to us, whatever may happen on the earth. Whether the temple will be built or whether the temple will be destroyed. These are all transient and temporal. But there, in the mind of God, is the temple which God has built. And it can never be destroyed, and it always stands. In other words, in these visions we are brought to see in the mind of God, the spiritual reality of things. What will strengthen your faith most? If the Lord tells you that one day the temple will be rebuilt, and then you begin to say, now whether that rebuilt temple will be destroyed again or not. Or God will open your eyes to see that no matter what happens on earth, there is a temple which always stands and is always there. Which will strengthen your faith? I'm not trying to enter into any school of interpretation, brothers and sisters. I'm just trying to share with you one thing. And that is, to me, I feel, whether the temple will be rebuilt or not is another question. It may, it may not. But one thing is sure. And that is, when a person is in such a time and such an environment, 14 years have passed. The city has been destroyed for 40 years. Nothing happened. In captivity for 25 years, nothing happened. And when a person was in such a situation, what he needs to see mostly, he needs to see what is in God. If he can see what is in God, all these things will be solved. Now I hope as we go on, it may become clearer. I know it is not clear now, but it may become clearer as we go on. Well, in these nine chapters, many things are being mentioned. But I think for our fellowship tonight, we will mention just four things that Ezekiel said. Number one, the house. From chapter 40 to chapter 43, verse 12, there you find God led Ezekiel in the spirit to a very high mountain. And on the top of the mountain he saw a city, walled. It was not like the Garden of Eden, unwalled. And because it was unprotected, you remember, the enemy slid in, and that was the fall of man. But here you find he saw on a very high mountain a city, walled all around. And yet this city, as you read, actually is the temple, is the house. The whole city is the house. There was the wall. There were the gates. There were the outer courts. There were the inner courts with all the chambers. And there was that altar of gigantic size. And there was the house itself. That is the holy place and the holiest. You'll find descriptions in detail of all these things. And more than that, after these things were described, then the glory of the Lord entered through the gate into the house and takes up its place. So at the conclusion of what he saw, let us read chapter 43, verse 7. And he said unto me, Son of man, this is the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. And the house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, they nor their king, and so on and so forth. Then, verse 10. Thou, Son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be confounded at their iniquity, and let them measure the pattern. And if they be confounded at all that they have done, make known to them the form of the house, and its fashion, and its goings out, and its comings in, and all its forms, and all its statues, yea, all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof, and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the statues thereof, and do them. This is the law of the house. Upon the top of the mountain, all its borders round about, is most holy. Behold, this is the law of the house. Here God showed Ezekiel a city house, a city temple. When God showed Ezekiel that house, it was already built. Just like when the Lord showed John the Apostle the new Jerusalem, he saw the new Jerusalem descending from heaven. It was already built. And you remember, that city was not built by man. It was built by God. The Lord said, I will build my church upon this rock, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail again. When God conceived a thought, it is done. When God has the thought of a temple, a dwelling place, among his people, it doesn't take God any time. So far as God is concerned, it is there already. In other words, it is an eternal house. Therefore you'll find we are not told how it was built. When it is built, when Ezekiel saw it, it was already built. It was already a city. It was there. Oh, brothers and sisters, what God has built, there is no need for correction. But look at what man has built. When Christ said, I will build my church upon this rock, will he build anything to it that needs to be teared down to change? But when we build, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, some build with gold, silver, and precious stones, and some build with wood, hay, and grass, and what a fire. So here, brothers and sisters, we need to see two things. One is, what God has built is perfect. But what man has or is building always needs to be corrected. Never perfect. Number two, when God builds, it is finished. Because God is not limited by time or space. With him it is eternal presence. So, so far as God is concerned, the temple is already there. When God can see, it is there. You cannot add anything to it, nor can you take anything away from it. It is perfect. It is done. It is there. But when you come to man, you find it needs to be gradually built. And it needs lots of correction. We need to have a vision of the temple in God's mind. We need to see the temple before God. Why? Because it is an eternal thing. It is finished. It is done. It is complete. It never changes. We need to have a vision of that. And actually, what we are building on earth is according to that. There, in the mind of God, is this dwelling place. And God says, this is the place of my throne. This is the place of the soul of my feet. And this is the place of my dwelling among life. On earth, you find a temple built, a temple destroyed. Another temple built, another temple destroyed. Maybe more temples built and more temples destroyed. But there, before God, is a temple that cannot be. It is always there. And it is perfect. We need that vision. Because if we can see that, then we know where we are going. And we will not be disappointed. No matter what happens on earth, that spiritual reality before God is always. And it is spiritual reality that we are after. What kind of a house is that? You find that house. Everything is measured by a measuring wheel. A man measures everything. And this is in a spiritual way telling us that Christ is that man. And the reed in his hand actually is the measure of Christ. He measures everything with himself. And there is nothing short anywhere. In other words, the whole place just meets his standard. Because this is what he is in a corporate way. Now that is what a church is. You remember in the second and the third chapter of Revelation? The Lord is there as the high priest, you know. He is there looking after these seven golden land things. And actually, he is measuring every one of them with his revelation. At the head of each letter, he reveals himself to that church. And then he measures that church with his revelation. God has only one measurement. And his measurement is his son. So here you will find the whole city, this wall city, everything is measured. Whether it is the wall, or whether it is the outer court, or whether it is the inner court, or whether it is the house, or the gate, or whatever it may be. Everything is according to his measure. Until, as Paul says, we come into the full maturity, the full golden man, the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ. So far as our experience goes, we are gradually entering into it. But so far as God sees it, it is already there. Already there. Thank God for that. The whole place is measured according to his measurement. Number two. The law of the house is most holy. From the top of the mountain and all the borders around. In other words, the whole city house is most holy. Why is it most holy? Because there is nothing of man. There is nothing other than God himself. Everything is of him. It is the new creation. The new creation. Most holy. And we know the word holy means uncommon. There is nothing common but most holy. Why? Because it is all of God. It is all of Christ. Oh, today, brothers and sisters, so far as our experience goes, not only at the borderline you find lots of common, but probably in the very core of it is how much of man, of the world, of things other than God are mixed in it. But thank God one day, as we enter into God's purpose, enter into that which God has already had in him, we find all the borders all around is most holy. This is the law of the house. A tremendous law. Nothing common can enter into that. Oh, because of this, how we need the Lord to deal with us today. Do nothing we can carry anything common into that. Most holy. All around. And because this house is in such suitability to him, therefore the glory of the Lord fill the place and take his position. It is the dwelling place of God. It is the place of his throne, where his authority is known and respected, and where he can dwell in peace and rest with his people. Brothers and sisters, to us it is in the future, something that we need to enter in by the grace of God, but to God it is already there. There is a spiritual reality before God, which is always there, which never changes, which is not subject to anything. That gives us hope. That gives us stability. That gives us a purpose. That shows us a direction. Because God is gradually leading us into that reality. That is the first thing Ezekiel saw in the vision. Number two. Ezekiel not only was given a vision of the house. Now we cannot go into any details, because Ezekiel described in very much detail, but we can only point out some principles. Now from chapter 43, verse 13, through chapter 44, verse 31, you find God began to show Ezekiel the second thing, and that is the priesthood. The priesthood. The service of the house. But here you find again something very different. You know when God separated the Levites, instead of all the twelve tribes of Israel to serve, in the tabernacle and later on in the temple, and he set apart the house of Aaron to be preached. But there you'll find in the history of Israel how they were unfaithful. They fall into apostasy. They fell away from God. They began to worship idols and all these things. And when such things happened, even the Levites became unfaithful. They were separated from the tribe to serve God, but during the days of apostasy, even the Levites, they were unfaithful to God. So Ezekiel saw in a vision the priesthood. And what did he see in the priesthood? He saw that the Levites were restored. They were able to minister to the house, but they were not allowed to minister to the Levites because of their past unfaithfulness. Of the family of Aaron, only the house of Dedok. During the days of apostasy, even when the Levites fell away from God, the house of Dedok were faithful to God. It was not easy to be faithful when the whole nation went away from God and even the Levites went away. But the house of Dedok was faithful to the Lord. And because they were faithful, God said, one day, when the Levites were restored, they are restored only to minister to the house. They can do different things in the house, but they are not allowed to minister unto the Lord himself. Only the house of Dedok, they shall enter into the sanctuary. They shall stand before the Lord. They shall minister unto the Lord. Brothers and sisters, there is a difference between minister to the house and minister to the Lord himself. In one sense, these two shall not be separated, should not be separated. If a person is to minister to the house, that is to say, minister to the people, they ought to be able to minister to the Lord. And if you minister to the Lord, then you are capable of ministering to the people. In other words, they shall be together. We shall minister to the Lord first and then minister to the people. But here you find a division. There is such a thing as ministering to the house. Oh, you look at the Levites. When they are ministering to the house, they are really busy. They perspire a lot. Why? Because they have to bring the cattle there, you know. They have to help slaughter it and maybe skin it and do all kinds of these jobs, you know. They are very busy and they may perspire a great deal. And they do a good job to the people. They really help the people. But the Lord said, the people are helped, but I'm not. I'm not. How easy for us to be busily occupied when all activities perspire a lot and people really help. But remember, if it is only a ministry to the house and not to the Lord, something is missing. Here you find a house of debt. Because of their faithfulness to the Lord, they are able to minister to the Lord Himself. And how do they minister? Chapter 44, verse 15. But the priests of Levi, the sons of David, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall approach unto me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to present unto me the flesh and the blood, said the Lord. To minister unto the Lord is to approach to the Lord and to stand before Him. They are not as busy as the Levites appear to be. They are not just running here and there and in continuous motion, ceaseless motion. You find they approach the Lord and just stand. Brothers and sisters, before we minister to God's people, do we minister to the Lord first. You remember in the church in Antioch, there were five teachers and prophets. And these five prophets and teachers, they were ministering unto the Lord. And the Lord said, Set me apart, Barnabas and Paul, for the work that I send them. We need to minister to the Lord first. How do we minister to the Lord? We approach Him and stand before Him. And you know the picture is like a slave standing quietly before his master waiting for his order. And his eyes fixed upon his master. That's the picture. Oh, how we need to be still. How we need to approach God and just stand before Him waiting on Him. Wait until we are ordered. Do not just rush here and there. Wait until we are ordered. Number two. And they are in the presence of the Lord to present the fat and the blood, says the Lord. You know the fat in the scripture speaks of the abundant life of Christ. All the fat of the animal of the sacrifice has to be burned to God. Why? Because the fat is after you have eaten and you know you have abundance and all this abundance will turn into fat. So fat in the scripture represents the abundant life. It speaks of the abundant life of Christ. And blood speaks of the death of Christ. The finished work of Christ. So here you'll find you are able to come to God and just present Christ to God. And this is your spiritual sacrifice. Acceptable to God. God cannot accept anything. We have nothing to bring to Him. We bring Christ to Him. We bring the fat and the blood. We bring the death and the life of our Lord Jesus. That we are made to know. And this we bring back to God. To the satisfaction of the Father. This is spiritual service. Something to bring to God. Not just to bring to man but something to bring to God. And in verse 16 They shall enter into my sanctuary and they shall approach unto my table to minister unto me and they shall keep my charge. They shall approach the table of the Lord. And the table in the scripture always speaks of communion. They shall be in communion with the Lord. And you remember it is the table of showbread. They are able to exhibit Christ. To exhibit Christ. It is in fellowship with the Lord. And to display, to exhibit Christ. That is ministering unto the Lord. And of course, because they are in such closeness with the Lord they are able to minister unto the Lord. The way they are to minister is they shall never swear. They are not allowed to go to the house minister to the Lord wearing anything wool. They are to wear wool linen. The reason why no wool is because it gets you warm and you begin to perspire. So it speaks of the energy of the flesh. Nothing in the energy of the flesh. But it is linen. You are cool. In the strength of the Spirit of God you serve Him. And brothers and sisters this gives us the ultimate of priesthood. In the eyes of God there is a spiritual reality of priesthood. And the priesthood is first ministered to the Lord. And then ministered to the people. So there you find they are to teach the people whether it is holy or profane. Clean or unclean. They are to teach the people. But first they have to minister to the Lord. Brothers and sisters we are all called into that priesthood. And it depends very much on our faithfulness. If we are faithful to the Lord then we will be able to minister to the Lord as well as to the house as the sons of Zadok. If we are not faithful to the Lord probably our priestly ministry will only be to the house and not to the Lord. So again you find God shows Ezekiel the spiritual reality of priesthood. That's the second thing. And the third thing we have to go quickly. The third thing is in chapter 47. In chapter 47 you find And he brought me back to the door of the house. And behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the front of the house was eastward. And the water came down from under, from the right side of the house, south of the altar. And he brought me out by the way of the gate northward and led me round outside into the outer gate towards the gate that looked eastward. And behold, waters ran out on the right side. When a man went forth eastward, a line was in his hand, and he measured 1000 cubic and he caused me to pass through the water and the waters went to the ankles, and he measured 1000 cubic and caused me to pass through the waters, the waters went to the knees, and he measured 1000 and caused me to pass through, the waters went to the loins, and he measured a thousand, it was a river, that I could not pass through for the waters had, were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. In other words, you'll find not only the house and the priesthood, but there is the reality of the river of the water of life. You know, in John's revelation, he saw a river of the water of life flowing out from the throne of God and of the land. And here you'll find Ezekiel saw the water coming out from the temple. It goes by the right side of the altar, it goes underneath the threshold of the door, and it begins to flow. Now of course, water, river of living water, speaks of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God. It begins with the throne of God and of the land. And it flows by right side of the altar and under the threshold. It simply means this. The Spirit of God comes from God and from Christ. And it comes by way of the cross, the altar. The altar represents the objective truth of the cross. What Christ has done for us. It goes under the threshold of the gate. It speaks of the subjective work of the cross in us. Because the threshold is where people would temple around on and pass over. So in other words, it represents the subjective working of the cross in us. If we see the throne of God, if we submit ourselves to the authority of God, then the Holy Spirit will come to us by way of the cross. We experience the Holy Spirit in the measure of our submission to the throne of God and of our acceptance of the cross. Both objectively and subjectively. And as it begins to flow, you measure a thousand cubits and it comes to the ankle. You know, the ankle is where you have the strength to stand up and walk. You remember in the third chapter of the book of Acts, Peter and John, they went into the temple and they saw a lame person there at that beautiful gate. And you remember Peter said, And you'll find when they raised that person up, his ankle bones were made strong. So he stood, he walked, he leaped, and he praised the Lord. In other words, when we submit ourselves to the Lord and to the working of the cross in our life, then the Holy Spirit will begin to touch our walk on earth. We are strengthened. We are able to walk on earth as he has walked. Another thousand cubits and the water comes to the knee. The knee is the place of prayer. It will affect our prayer life. First it enables us to walk. Then it will enable us to pray. And then it comes to the loin. You remember the Bible said, Then you are able to minister to other people. And another thousand cubits and it is a river to swim with. When you throw yourself into the water and flow with it, it is a life of union. So here you'll find you enter into the fullness of the Spirit. Oh, brothers and sisters, you'll find in the city of God there is always that living water. The river of living water flows all around the city and it flows out to heal the dead. To bring in fruit and bring in life. That is the fullness of the Spirit. There is a reality before God. What the church is, is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. To experience the Holy Spirit to such an extent that it touches our walk on earth. It touches our prayer life. It touches our ministry. And it brings us into such a union with the Spirit that there might be fruit, trees, bearing fruit each month. The fruit of the Spirit. And there might be healing. The dead will be swallowed by life. And there will be fishes, in other words, there will be life. Abundant life everywhere. And this is what the church is before God. And number four, just briefly mentioned. And then you'll find in the book of Ezekiel a little description of the city. Of the city. And it concludes with this expression. In 48, last verse. Round about it was 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that day, Jehovah Shammah. Jehovah is there. Now you know of course, in Jerusalem, the temple was in the city. And in the vision that John saw in Revelation chapter 21 and 22. Chapter 22. You'll find that there is no temple. Why? Because God is the temple. God is the temple. But here you'll find Ezekiel saw the temple in one place and the city in another place. Now not because the temple and the city are two separate things. It is to Ezekiel, being a man of details, he tried to show us the different aspects of the same thing. So what he saw were two things. The temple there and the city here. But actually, the city and the temple are one. Are one. But the temple describes one aspect of life. The city describes another aspect of life. You know, the temple is the place of worship. It describes a life with God. Our life with God. And God with us. But the city describes a life with one another. With one another. A city is a unit. Even though we are many, yet we are one. Behold how good and how pleasant for the brethren to dwell together in unity. Now that's the city. That's city life. Probably today people do not like city life very much. They all like to move to the country. And you do enjoy the country. But dear brothers and sisters, one day you will see there is a city life which is most pleasant and good. Oh, behold how pleasant and how good for the brethren to dwell together in unity. And when the brethren dwell together in unity, you'll hear it is said the name of the city is Jehovah-Shallah. The Lord is there. Only the Lord is there can make the brethren dwell together in unity. And when the brethren dwell together in unity, the Lord is there. Oh, brothers and sisters, there is a reality before God. There is a city with foundation. And in that city, the Lord is there. And God's people dwell together in unity. How we long for that city. How we are tired of the country life on this earth. Oh, that we may enter into that spiritual reality. So here you'll find Ezekiel in the last few chapters show us spiritual realities in God. And we know all these are yea and amen in Christ. To us, it is something to arrive to God. It is already there. Thank God. No matter what happened on earth, it is there. It is there. God's purpose stands forever. Praise his name. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, Oh, do. Do lift us out of ourselves. That in our spirit, we may see the realities that are in Christ. That will give us strength. Give us faith. To continue on. To press on towards the goal. How we praise and thank thee. Nothing, nothing here on earth can affect that which is in thee. It is already there. And we shall be there. Oh, we do praise thy name. Do use this, these things to encourage us. That these may not be theories. But these may be visions that will strengthen our faith. And our love towards thee. We do commit one another into thy loving care. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.