46. The Presence of the Holy Spirit

46.  The Presence of the Holy Spirit

 

Ezekiel 47:1-5

 

1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side.

2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.

3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet[a] and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles.

4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist.

5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.

 

▣ There are two types of prayer: praying in the flesh and praying in the Spirit.

The reason most people find it difficult to pray for a long time is because prayer is a fleshly effort.

Many of those who pray try to pray on their own and fail.

(However, this process is absolutely necessary.)

Prayer is riding the waves of the Holy Spirit.

Those who pray spiritually ride the waves of the Holy Spirit.

You must become a person who prays spiritually.

Carnal prayer is difficult because we ask for it with the will and will of man.

Because spiritual prayer follows the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit, as the prayer time increases, you can enter a deeper world of prayer.

It is difficult to start praying for physical prayer, but it is difficult for spiritual prayer to stop praying.

Physical prayer is difficult to endure for 30 minutes, but spiritual prayer is difficult to stop even after 3 hours.

The prophet Ezekiel had a vision.

As he entered the temple in Jerusalem, water was gushing out from the east gate.

The angel told him to “cross the water”.  The water came up to my ankles.

He went a little further and crossed the water, and the water came up to his knees.  He went a little further and again said to “cross the water”.

The water came up to my waist.

He went back a little further and saw that the water became a river.

I couldn't walk any longer, so I had to swim across.

These are the many things that God will accomplish through Israel in the future.

He showed what would happen in the temple in the middle.

The water flowing out of the temple is the Holy Spirit.

It tells us that wherever the water of the Holy Spirit flows, the work of life will take place.

Jesus also said in Acts 1 that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive power and work will appear to the ends of the earth.

The vision Ezekiel saw shows the process in which the work of the Holy Spirit is manifested.

The work of the Holy Spirit is getting deeper and deeper.

The first thing that rises to the ankle is the level of experience of the Holy Spirit.

Water up to the knees and back up to the waist indicates the level of spirituality that each individual experiences.

It means that even if you experience the Holy Spirit, the depth varies from person to person.

 

1. Ezekiel saw through a vision.

 

1 during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity—fourteen years after the fall of Jerusalem—the Lord took hold of me. 2 In a vision from God he took me to the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain. From there I could see toward the south what appeared to be a city. 3 As he brought me nearer, I saw a man whose face shone like bronze standing beside a gateway entrance. He was holding in his hand a linen measuring cord and a measuring rod.

 

4 He said to me, “Son of man, watch and listen. Pay close attention to everything I show you. You have been brought here so I can show you many things. Then you will return to the people of Israel and tell them everything you have seen.” (Ezekiel 40:1-4).

 

These are the words God showed Ezekiel in a vision.

Fantasy is not reality.  Not human knowledge.

This is a spiritual phenomenon that God shows.

The spiritual future of a Christian is not in my thoughts or knowledge.

Only what God shows is true.

Many people in the Bible did not live by their own knowledge, but through

spiritual experiences and lived a new life.

Moses heard the voice of God from a burning bush.

Samuel was sleeping and heard God's voice in the temple.

Paul too, on the way to Damascus, fell from his horse and heard the voice of the Lord.  Now, I hope that we will hear more words and visions from the Lord than we do through books or media.

 

Christians must listen to the voice of the Lord.

A child is crying alone on the street.

The child will stop crying when her mother comes.

No matter what other people say sweet things, I don't hear them.

It is only when you listen to your mother that you become calm.

 

The spirit within us is weeping like a child by the roadside.

Although we are not conscious of it, the spirit within us is crying.

Why do Christians hear the word of God and receive grace?

Because it is the voice of God the Father.

Christians must hear the voice of God.

 

2. We must go into a deeper place of prayer.

 

3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet[a] and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. (Ezekiel 47:3-4).

 

First the ankles, then the knees, then the waist, and finally the water was so full that I could no longer walk.

We do not need new experiences for prayer. A deeper encounter is needed.

You shouldn't say that you know the whole spiritual world while being on a

spiritual level that dips your ankles.

I have to go from ankle to knee, knee to waist, and waist to the point where my

whole body is above the water.

 

This is a spiritual battle that should not be given up.

There is a difference between praying for 1 hour at the place of prayer and praying for 2 hours.

Do not just pray for 30 minutes and say that you are not impressed.

If you pray for 3 hours a day, you will enter the sea filled with the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual growth never happens automatically.

Every day we have to go deeper.

 

Ezekiel goes deeper into the water.

Following the angel's words, we go into the depths little by little.

We too want to go deeper into our spiritual level.

The secret of faith that deepens from ankle to knee and from knee to waist is in today's Word.

There is a faith that moves forward gradually, and a faith that falls behind and eventually retreats by the ankle.

You have to go through your ankles to get to your knees, and you need to go past your knees to get to a deeper place where your back is filled with water.

And the only way to do that is to obey the Lord's Word to you every day.

 

3. Deeper prayer is different.

 

5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.

(Ezekiel 47:5).

 

When the water up to your ankles, knees or waist is full, you can walk even with a little force.  But when it rises like a river, it can no longer walk.

From then on, you have to swim.  There is a level in the life of faith.

First of all, it is carnal faith.  This is the faith I walk in.

Then, when it goes deeper, it becomes spiritual faith.  Now I have to swim.

When I walk, I have to stand firmly because I am on the ground.

One's own will and thoughts are important for this kind of carnal faith.

But when you have to swim, your body needs to float.

You have to take your feet off the ground and lean on the water.

You have to surrender yourself to the water.

As you can see by swimming, our body floats in the water only if we do nothing without strength.  Spiritual faith is like this.

It is giving up on yourself and relying on the Holy Spirit.

You cannot walk in the river.  You have to swim.

 

In the state of spiritual faith, the fleshly method is no longer possible.

To experience the presence of the Holy Spirit, you must know this fact.

The first realization for experiencing the Holy Spirit is that humans are sinners.

He must know and accept that he cannot walk on his own.

You can walk from ankle to waist when full of water.

But when you discover a deeper level, you despair yourself.

If you try to lead your prayer life with physical effort, it will be difficult.

You can die if you try to walk in the river.

You have to put down your physical efforts and swim in the river of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer is not something I do. It is a world that the Holy Spirit leads.

Amen.