Ezekiel 47; Revelation 22
I went on a drive to my old stomping grounds in Acton last week and one of the things that really struck me was the pond behind my house which used to be a place for swimming and hockey had now turned into a swamp full of bulrushes, weeds and almost completely overgrown. This happens over time when there is no constant stream flowing into it. Spiritual rebirth is like going from stagnation like this in our lives to the raging power of a great river. It is there that a flowing stream brings life to everything along its way.
We are beginning a new series this week that will focus on giving. Did you know that the subject of giving is mentioned 2500 times in the Bible? The next closest subject is only mentioned 500 times. This alone is fairly motivating for us to consider as we explore it. The Word is very clear on the incredible joy and blessing of giving. Most followers of Jesus would like to be more giving but see so many challenges that get in the way. My aim is that we will discover in very practical ways a clear understanding of how we can position ourselves so that the spirit of generosity can flow through us!
• Rivers are pictures of giving Christians.
The Bible begins with an image of the river which flowed from the Garden of Eden and flowed into the major tributaries in Genesis 2:10
The river flowed to a land where gold is found , to land that is exceptionally pure, a place where the most precious stones are found as well and the Tigrus and Euphrates River. In ancient times, you wanted to be along the river because it was there that the passage of all goods would take place and trading would be done. The river was also the pathway to the greatest treasures that God had to offer.
The Bible also closes with a picture of heaven where the river flows through the central part of the city in Revelation 22. Wherever the river flowed, there was life. There were trees of life that grew along each side of the river.
• The River is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit.
To be born again is to be part of that very flow of the Spirit and the presence of God. Before Christ we were like the Dead Sea or a pond. A pond or a sea can only contain water, it does not give water.
As you listen to me speak about the river, this passage in Revelation may sound familiar to you and it should. Last month at our Easter service I spoke on Ezekiel 47 which mirrors and is a similar picture of the river that John describes. Ezekiel had the same vision and the realization was that the river flowed from the south side of the temple. God is the river that is always giving, always flowing into our lives if we let Him. It is a picture of the infinite generosity of a generous God; however, it is Satan who longs to convince us otherwise that God is the one who restrains us and that He is the one who is holding back on us.
• You were meant to go with the flow...the flow of the Spirit
We can either believe the lies of Satan that we must hold on to everything and suck the life out of it like a pond or believe that God will just keep pouring into us.
In the garden, the enemy convinced both Adam and Eve into believing that God is not fair and that He holds out on us. That is a lie straight from the pit of hell to believe that God is a miserly God. Satan would love nothing better than to us believe that everything must flow into us when all of heaven is devoted to an outward flow. When we make concern for ourselves first, we separate ourselves from the joy, the life, the growth that God desires for us and we simply dry up and become overgrown as we see in Ezekiel 47v11’but the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will be sources of salt.
• We are designed for an outward flow.
We have been created for generosity.
On the last day of the seven day Feast of Tabernacles, thousands would gather in the temple and the priests would begin to act out the very vision of Ezekiel. They would be dressed in white robes and would walk down to the Pool of Siloam very reverently and would fill up their golden pitchers with water. They would then take the water and pour it out over the temple floor and it was created in such a way that the water would then flow out down the south side part of the temple past the altar. The crowd would shout with incredible joy and for the nation it was a powerful reminder that through the nation of Israel the presence of God would flow to all nations.
It would be at this incredible event that Jesus, looked upon as a young rabbi, would proclaim loudly in John 7:37 "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."
What was the response...
It was incomprehensible for so many to believe that the temple was not the source of the river!
1 Peter 2:5...we have become the living stones of God’s temple and the powerful rush of water was meant to flow through us to transform barren and broken lives with His love.
We come to Christ to drink and a river of living water will flow out from within us.
We were meant to be leaky temples! It was meant to leak and hopefully at some point just pour out of us.
So, when we are born again, we truly begin to care about what God cares about and pursue what He pursues. It is literally within us and so we can’t stay stagnant.
To become a river, you have to deny self in the sense that you no longer come first.
There was a rich young ruler who thought he could buy his way into heaven. He had a stack of solid health, incredible boldness and of course a boatload of money. He was hoping to get an eternal life insurance policy, but here is the thing about salvation. It was never meant to be a possession. Salvation is not a possession you can get; it is a condition that you become transformed into and the Spirit of giving is born into you!
The origin of the river is in the complete reversal of what has come naturally to all people. It is for that reason that it is often a river that goes against the flow of culture. It reminds as well of the story of the wide and narrow gate. We are changed to the point where move from getting to giving and from selfishness to sacrifice.
Our rivers are born when we die to getting and learn to start living by giving
It was Satan who started the lie that changed the direction of the flow of the river in his heart when He challenged Eve in the garden to become like God...you can have everything, you can have it all, all the knowledge, all the power in essence to become retaining ponds.
C.S. Lewis captures the picture in The Great Divorce when he depicts hell as solitary confinement, a place of eternal aloneness.
Fear over possessions either gained or lost is a picture of that pond mentality which measures life by the amount of water in one’s pond. The river mentality measures how much flow is going out and giving life to others all along the way.
• Fruit is the evidence of the flow
John 15:1-8
All NT references to the lack of fruit or barrenness are pictures of death, of loss, of hell itself. They are the stagnant ponds rather than the life giving rivers.
A young mother was dying of cancer and was surrounded by several members of her church’s prayer team for months. During that time, God gave her a vision that she saw a millions souls in India streaming into heaven as a result of her witness. The prayer team thought that this was evidence of the fact that God was going to miraculously heal her. However, shortly after seeing the vision, she died.
Five years later a Christian from a northern state in India came to the US and located the church of this mother. He contacted the minister of missions and shared about a little tract that was written about a dying mother, her faith and her vision and inquired if anyone knew about the author. As it turned out, the tract was made as a testimony of her love for Christ during her pain of cancer, was translated and was being widely distributed there. The man shared how 4 new churches had been started and the tract was used instrumentally in speaking to the pain of so many living there.
From Why Give by John F DeVries
When it comes to streams, we may never see the places where our river flows downstream and is still at work in even increasing flow.
• Childlike Dependency is the means to increased flow.
Each of us has our own Dead Sea into which God’s Spirit flows. Remember that Ezekiel’s guide measured the river four times and the realization is that when God is the source of the river, He will be the one that will create the ever increasing flow.
1 John 3:1
How great is the love of the Father that He lavishes on us that we should be called the children of God.
He wants to pour out His abundance through us.
Salvation is God using us as the streams of living water to the dry and weary land where we live.
April was one of the driest months on record since record keeping in the 1800s. Where are the April showers? We are the April showers in people’s lives!
It was prophesied over me and though I sometimes go through periods of doubt, it sustains me!
So I opened the Champion on Friday night and went to the section on churches and just checked out what everyone was doing. The article that lead into it was on the need for us to look after widows and orphans and it spoke to that. I thought to myself, ‘good article’, but had no idea how it would play out in my life... the following day.
Rylan and I took part in part of Milton Community ‘Good Neighbours’ Day. I have been part of it in the past and can remember bagging a lot of garbage along the Sixteen Mile River. Yesterday, it was different though. They handed me an address and told me there was a senior that needed her windows washed. So, with Windex in hand, Rylan and I were off and we went to Linda’s home. We got there and met with her and learned that she has been a widow for ten years. We found out that her son had transferred out to Vancouver a few years ago and she was thrilled to have some help. Well we ended up doing a fair amount of weeding as well and it went really well. As I was digging them out, I thought, this is what the church needs to be about as well. I had this really great plan to pick up all the remaining slips of paper back at Hugh Foster Hall and hand them out at church but there was only one left. I offered to take it, but a family arrived late to take it.
It started to thunder and rain as we were just finishing up and we got the ladders and weed bag in the garage. Linda looked at us and said, “I don’t know what to say.” I responded by telling her that we went to Southside and that the Bible tells us to look after widows so it was an honor for us to do it. It was a great morning and I can’t express how much joy God gives you when you serve. Good Neighbours Day should not only be about one day so keep your eyes and ears open to the opportunities that God allows you to GIVE!
The Takeaway
If you are a child of God, it is IN YOU to give!!
Questions For Discussion
- List major gifts that make up God’s river of giving.
- If you can, relate about a time when God has completely multiplied your giving.
- What are the direct fruits of giving?
- How can you position yourself for releasing a greater flow of the Holy Spirit and giving in your life?
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