Healing

From Ezekiel 47, starting at verse 1, Then he, meaning the angel, the messenger, brought me back to the door of the temple. Remembering this is a vision. And behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east.

For the temple faced east. And the water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east.

And water was coming out on the south side of the east gate. Going on eastward with a line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits and led me through the water, and it was ankle deep. Again he measured a thousand cubits and he led me through the water, and it was knee deep.

Again he measured a thousand and he led me through the water, and it was up to the loins. Again he measured a thousand and it was a river that I could not pass through. For the water had risen.

It was deep enough to swim in a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, Son of man, have you seen this? Then he led me back along the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw upon the bank of the river very many trees on one side and on the other.

And he said to me, This water flows toward the east, toward the eastern region that goes down to the Arava. And when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh.

So everything will live where this river goes. It begins as a tiny spring bubbling up beneath the threshold, trickling down around the south side of the great altar of sacrifice. Then this little trickle of a stream finds its way across the courtyard, eastward, toward the east gate of the temple.

It doesn't look like very much, and remember now, in those days they didn't have any kind of pipes to break. This was a spring. It didn't have much force, it didn't have any depth.

But now if you go outside the temple, and go the length of about five football fields to the east, now we have a little stream that comes up to our ankles. You go another 500 yards, it's up to the knees. 500 more yards, two city blocks, it's up to your waist.

Two more city blocks, and it's over your head. A mighty river you can't pass through. How can a little spring, an innocent little spring, bubbling up beneath the threshold of the temple, become a mighty river inside the distance of just slightly over one mile? We have to understand that this water is no ordinary water.

It looks like water, but it's in fact the Spirit of God. Whoever is touched by this river, if their heart is at all open, is touched with life from God, with healing, is invaded by the atmosphere of another world. When you touch this water, you're touching the Holy.

You're touching God. Reading from John chapter 7, verse 37, On the last day of the feast, the great day, the feast of tabernacles, the feast of the latter rains, around this time of year, Jesus stood up in the temple and proclaimed, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.

Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive. For as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet born. Flipping back to Luke chapter 9, verse 1, Then he called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

And he sent them out to preach the kingdom, and to heal. And he said to them, Take nothing for your journey, no staff, no bag, nor bread, nor money. Do not have two tunics, and whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.

And whatever they do not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet. And they departed, and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. When Jesus came out of his wilderness temptation, and announced the kingdom of God, and began to manifest the kingdom of God, mainly with signs of healing, this vision of Ezekiel was fulfilled.

It didn't look like much at first, just a little spring bubbling up in the temple, that's where it began, at the place of worship. But even then, those who were touched by the spring were touched with life from God. Then it began to run about that huge altar of sacrifice, which was Calvary, where the Lamb of God laid down his life for the sins of the world.

There the stream began to pick up speed and force. Then it burst from beneath the outside eastern gate of the temple, going through that gate which was the resurrection. It began to move now outside the world with resurrection power, outside the temple into the world.

It was a huge river. Most of us here today are here because we have been touched by that river. And if there are those who have not been, there's no reason why you couldn't be touched.

There was a day, there was a season, when this stream brought to us the atoning power of the Lamb, the resurrection power of the Son of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, into our lives it came, bringing to us healing of whatever kind we needed. Following the healing, we began to change, and that change, if we're cooperating with it, is still going on. What we need to see, however, today, is that in order to retain the life and the healing brought to us by that river, we have to become part of that river.

We have to become the means by which light from God reaches out and touches and heals and justifies and sanctifies other people. If we don't become part of the river, if we don't allow ourselves to be that, what happens is that we simply become a little puddle of water off to the side that dries up in the sun while the river goes on without us. And it's possible for people to receive and taste and experience and rejoice, and before they know it, without realizing it, be bypassed.

In Luke 10, verse 1, we read, After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of Him two by two into every town and place where He Himself was about to come. And He said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

Go your way. Behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals.

Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him.

If not, it shall return to you. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you, heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. Now this outflow into the world of the kingdom of God with the principal sign of the kingdom being healing continued long beyond Pentecost, long beyond the resurrection of our Lord.

These people continued to do these things all through the apostolic age and really down through the whole history of the body of Christ on earth. This has been going on. And this council, this command to the 70 with almost very little change applies to us exactly the way it comes to them.

It applies to us. We know, for instance, that we're not to go out there scratching around trying to find church members. We're not to go out there trying to bring everybody to our doctrinal position.

Nor are we to, as we are tempted to, to spend our time and energy babysitting adults or young people or whoever they are who refuse to grow up and become clubs, Christian clubs, where everything is sanitary and uniform and homogeneous and everybody's comfortable. We are called to be that river. The spring coming up at the threshold, the stream flowing past the altar and going out through the gate of the temple which brings the healing, cleansing, saving, restoring, quickening life of God to sin-sick people in a sin-sick world regardless of the disruption.

Is it too much to expect that before we gather together a week from today, wherever we may happen to be and some will be in many different places a week from today, gathered with the saints a week from today, wherever we are, every single one of us will have touched at least one person so directly, so graciously, so wonderfully with the life of Jesus that that person will have experienced healing. Let's believe that. Faith is being sure of things hoped for, certain of things not seen.

He who believes in me, out of his heart, will flow rivers of living water and those rivers of living water heal. To help us believe that and to practice what we believe, let's see ourselves as part of this river at three points. See ourselves, first of all, as that spring bubbling up beneath the threshold which means worship.

Then to see ourselves as the stream going by the altar of sacrifice which obviously means being joined to the cross. And thirdly, to see ourselves as the mighty river one mile east which means bringing the kingdom of God into this world with unspeakable power. And all three go together.

You can't pick out one and just concentrate on it. It has to be all three. And we begin by seeing ourselves as the spring bubbling up beneath the threshold of the temple.

It's significant that this stream begins in the temple. It begins at the place of worship. The worship of the living God is the start of it all.

That's where it was for Jesus, our Lord. Satan says, if you're the son of God, turn your stones to bread and if you're the son of God, jump from the pinnacle of the temple. But then he says, I'll give it all to you, shortcut, just bow down and worship me.

And Jesus says, it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve and he fulfilled that. As the son of man, worship was his life. See, and worship is not only, it is indeed saying, praise your name, but it's also serving.

And that was his life. And the apostles, the same thing. It began for them with worship and it must begin for us with worship.

The source of our life is God and we touch the source as we worship God. Praise him, thank him, adore him, honor him. Commit ourselves to serving him and commit ourselves to serving his people and present our bodies as a living sacrifice to him.

We receive healing. Healing comes into us as we worship. If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

How do we come to him and drink? By worshiping him. He who believes in me, as scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

The whole earth is full of his glory. Worship. Let's worship God.

Worship him every day. Worship him every hour. Let's worship him together here.

Let's worship him in everything we do. Worship is the starting point. Then we need to see ourselves as the stream flowing by the great altar.

Which means, in fact for us, that we join ourselves to the cross. The thing doesn't go west. It doesn't avoid that altar.

It goes right past it and becomes part of it. Our life is in the cross. Nowhere else, apart from the cross of Jesus, there is no health in us.

To see that and to live that, and to say it in prayer, Lord, your cross is my life this day. Your cross is my salvation. I get under the yoke with you.

And I pick up my cross and I carry it with you. So that your death can work in me. So that your resurrection can flow out of me to others.

You know, joining ourselves to the cross is not just accepting the doctrine of his atonement, but it's joining ourselves to it in fact and letting the working of his death begin to have an impact on our lives. Meaning, that I only once and done die to self, or reckon myself dead with Christ, as I do indeed, but now this gets turned into actual day in and day out living, where self rears its head. You know, and sometimes it's so subtle I can see self springing out of everybody but me.

But that's not doing me any good. And if I'm not careful, if I am not allowing the death of the Lord through his cross to kill me, pretty soon I'm a monster before I even know it. Now I don't know what to do.

Lord, let the death work in me. Your death. So that your life may flow out.

Seriously asking him to put his finger on those things that must go if there's going to be any life. When we begin to think that way and pray that way and live that way, then we understand more clearly than ever before what Jesus means when he says to us, week after week, take and eat. This is my body given for you.

Take and drink. This is the blood of the new covenant shed for your sins. Now you're joined to my cross.

You're dead with me. Now the stream begins to pick up speed. We need to reckon ourselves, finally see ourselves as a mighty stream one mile east of the gate, which is now a river you can't pass through.

Meaning that we go out there and we boldly proclaim the kingdom. We manifest the kingdom with unspeakable power. Believe that within a week, before we come together next week, each one of us is going to touch one person with that power.

One person is going to be touched by the healing of Jesus. One person is going to be touched by the cleansing of his blood. Through us, we're going to say something.

We're going to do something. We're going to maybe pray for somebody. Perhaps we're going to lay our hands on somebody.

And the chains of Satan will break. When this time, this precious time together comes to an end, and we will then go forth from this feast of victory, the spring bubbling up from the threshold is a stream going by the great altar. It's a mighty river, one mile deep.

At least one person will be impacted by the life of God through us. As Jesus himself touches that person through us. Believe it.

Be certain of it. Dare to go out and do it.