Episode Transcript
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Well, I've changed my mind.
You may remain standing, and we're going
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to read a shorter section this morning. John Seven, thirty seven through thirty
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nine, so just a few verses. Will read much more scripture throughout the
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sermon, but this morning, as
I mentioned, we're focusing on this passage
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in this longer sermon that Jesus is
given as he's standing there in the temple
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during the feast of booths and he
exclaims this thing about the spirit that is
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so important for us to understand.
Let's give our attention to a John Seven,
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verses thirty seven, thirty eight and
thirty nine. On the last day
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of the feast, the Great Day, Jesus stood up and cried out,
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if anyone thirsts, let him come
to me and drink. Whoever believes in
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me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers
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of living water. Now he said
this about the spirit who those who believed
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in him were to receive, for
as yet the spirit had not yet been
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given because Jesus was not yet glorified. Praise be to God, you may
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be seated so early in our service. We sang him four hundred and three
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glorious things of the are spoken and
on. The following words for that are
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Zion, city of our God.
Glorious Things are spoken about Zion, and
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then in the hymn there is a
description of that city. I'm glorious things
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of the are spoken Zy and city
of our God. Then about God,
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it says he whose word cannot be
broken formed thee for his own abode on
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the rock of ages founded. What
can shake thy sure repose. With Salvation's
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walls surrounded, thou may smile at
all THY foes. Right, you're safe,
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you're protected. Then the hymn goes
on to express very interesting imagery that
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I hope by the end of the
sermon you understand more and better and see
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more clearly. Verse two says,
see the streams of living water. It's
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pointing our attention like, look at
this, see the streams of living waters
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springing from eternal love. What do
they do? Well, supply thy sons
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and daughters and all fear of want
remove. So somehow within this city there
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are these waters that are flowing out
and supplying the sons and daughters of God,
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the citizens of this city, and
removing all fear. It goes on
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to describe these waters waters, Jesus
mentions in this passage. Who can faint
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while such a river ever flows?
Their thirst assuage or quench grace which,
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like the Lord the Giver, Never
Fails From Age to age. Amazing picture.
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The third verse then goes on to
describe the spirit, not in terms
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of the living waters but an old
testament images, I'm picked up in the
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new as well, round each habitation, hovering. See The cloud and fire
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up here. You remember the image
of the in the or the in the
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Old Testament, and the people left
Egypt. They were led by what a
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pillar of cloud and fire. This
is the spirit of God, for a
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glory and a covering that the Lord
is near, as the spirit dwells with
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God's people. It reminds us of
his presence, not just reminds us of
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it, it is his presence,
it is his dwelling with us. And
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then the cant the application of that
in the third verse. Thus deriving from
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their banner light by night and Shade
by day, safe they feed upon the
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manner which he gives them when they
pray, as amazing him written by John
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Newton. All of these many a
dozens of various images throughout the old and
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new testaments being combined together to describe
this, this city in which we dwell,
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in, a city which we are
a part of, built into in
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a way in which the hear it
resides. And it's that spirit and it's
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this these images that Jesus is a
dressing here in this part of his sermon.
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For the past couple weeks we've been
thinking carefully about Jesus say, of
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Jesus's statements about himself as the son
of God, who he is as the
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sun, who his father is,
how they relate, how he is one
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who is sent from the father,
how he is one who is going to
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the father. And in the midst
of all of this that he is saying,
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he's has also something to say about
the Holy Spirit. If anyone thirsts,
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let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as
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the scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water.
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This he said about the spirit.
This he said about the spirit.
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You remember, at the beginning of
the service we, even before we sung
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this him, we also remembered and
confessed some things about the Holy Spirit.
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And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life,
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who proceeds from the father and the
son, who, with the father and
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the son together, is worshiped and
glorified, who spoke by the Prophets.
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And you may have also noticed the
next section in the nicene creed, in
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which some of the current work of
the spirit is confessed. And I believe
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in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, I acknowledge one baptism for the rumission
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of sins and I look for the
resurrection of the dead and of the life
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of the world to come. Amen. Thank you. Yes, good.
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This is what we confess as Christians, and part of that, the the
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teaching for that, or part of
the reasons why we confess that, is
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right here in John Seven, this
little passage. I want us to pay
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attention to two particular things. The
first one is that receiving the spirit happens
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at a particular time that's anticipated in
scripture. The reception of the spirit has
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it happens at a particular time that
is anticipated prophesied about in the scripture.
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And the second thing is that that
moment is very specifically tied to Jesus,
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our Savior. So let's think about
the first one, the spirit being coming
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at a particular time. Notice what
Jesus says. He says, believe in
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me and this will happen. Believe
in me and the scripture will be fulfilled.
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Out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water. Now he says
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this about the spirit, and notice
the tenses of the verbs. Here he
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says in now, the at.
This he said about the spirit whom those
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who believed in him were to receive
now remembered. So John's writing about something
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that happened in the past, about
something that would happen in the future.
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Does that make sense? So he's
saying they were about to receive this.
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In other words, as he's telling
the story now, why hadn't they received
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it yet? Why didn't they have
the spirit yet in the way that Jesus
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describes? It's a good question and
Jesus answers it for us, for as
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yet the spirit had not yet been
given. The spirit had not been given.
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And why that? Because Jesus had
not yet been glorified. Now that
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might make you scratch your head a
little bit and say now, wait a
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second. Didn't we just sing Psalm
fifty one, where David himself says,
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Lord, take not your spirit from
me. Did the spirit only come after
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Jesus was glorified. Somehow we have
to account for both of these facts right.
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Somehow we have to account for the
fact that the spirit clearly was at
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work and was doing things in the
Old Testament before Jesus was glorified. And
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yet we also have to account for
what Jesus says here, what John says
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here, that the spirit had not
yet been given. So let's think about
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that for a moment. How do
we understand those things according to God's word?
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Well, the first thing to remember
is that the spirit certainly was present
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before pentecost, which is what we're
eventually going to get to. We know
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that the spirit was present in the
Old Testament from the very beginning of the
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Bible. In the beginning, God
created the heavens and the earth. The
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earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the
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deep. And who was hovering over
the face of the waters? Spirit,
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the spirit of God, was hovering
over the face of the waters. Colossians
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tells us that, and that,
and and John tells us that the beginning
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of his Gospel, that through Jesus
everything was made. The He is the
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word spoken by the father, but
here in Genesis one. We also learn,
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and other places in scripture, that
the spirit was a vital, and
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that's a fun word to use at
this point, a vital part of this
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work. It's not as though the
father and the son were doing this creative
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work and creating the world in the
spirit was just standing by with his hands
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in the pie his pockets right.
All three persons within the God had are
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always involved in every work of God
according to their distinct persons, but unified
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perfectly the same in essence, and
that's why we worship and glorify each as
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God, as the one God.
So spirit was there from the beginning.
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Romans also tells us that the saints
of old are fallen just as much as
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you and I are, that they
were born under the wrath and curse that
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came from Adam just as much as
we are, and it was the spirit
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who, it is the spirit who
cleanses our hearts by faith. This is
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what we have an act fifteen,
seven nine. You don't get a new
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heart unless God gives you a new
heart, and it's the spirits particular job
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that does that work. Now,
the Christ had not yet come, the
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spirit had not yet been given in
the way that Jesus describes here, and
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yet, nevertheless, as the saints
of old anticipated those things, in the
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types and the shadows of the things
that they were given, they believed on
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Jesus Christ and they've received the spirit
and they were saved. We also know
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that the spirit led the people,
not just in an individual way to those
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who were truly saved and regenerated,
but he also led them in a corporate
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way through the cloud of fire and
smoke in the desert, as as he
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descended upon the Temple of God,
as he descended upon God's particular leaders and
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anointed them in their power, in
their offices and service. Saul, for
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example, had the spirit of God
anointing him for that task and it was
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taken away. His Authority, his
office, the anointing for that task was
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removed because of his sin. David
Asks, on the heels of his sin
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of adultery and murder, Psalm fifty
one. He says, Lord, I
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have sinned grievously, and this is
not just a one particular thing, but
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this goes deep down. I was
conceived and born in Sin. Do Not
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Take Your spirit from me. He's
not afraid of losing his salvation here,
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but he's asking that God would continue
to establish him in his kingly power,
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and is an anointing, and that
through that Zion would be established and that
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the people of God would be safe. David recognized that they needed a shepherd
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king and he wanted to continue to
be that, that the spirit would not
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be removed, as it was with
Saul. It was the spirit who equipped
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Elijah and Elisha to Elishah, who
asked for a double portion that his master
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Elijah had. And of course the
spirit was present with Jesus in the incarnation,
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hovering over Mary, just like he
did at the waters at the beginning,
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bringing about new creation through our savior. He annointed Jesus at the for
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ministry, at his baptism. He
drove Jesus out in the Wilderness to begin
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his great duel with an eventual conquest, beginning the conquest over Satan. And
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this work of the spirit in the
Ministry of Christ, in the Ministry of
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the Sun, is anointing on him. He's equipping of him continued all the
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way through to the resurrection, where
we read, and we read earlier in
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Romans, that it was the spirit
of God who rose him, caused him
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to rise from the dead. The
spirits also speak of the father causing him
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to rise from the dead and the
sun causing himself to rise again, which
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was a reminder of the unified work
of God. And of course, the
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spirit is there when he ascends into
heaven and then in the spirit is there
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when, in his exaltation, he
is then sent. So all this to
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say that the spirit was certainly present
before Jesus's glorification. Nevertheless, the scriptures
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also tell us that something more then
was there. More of the spirit in
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his presence was always anticipated. When
the spirit came upon Moses and he prophesied,
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Moses says in numbers twenty nine,
would that all the Lord's people be
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prophets, that the WHO the Lord
would put his spirit on them. This
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is picked up in Joel, Chapter
Two, twenty eight, where the the
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Prophet prophesies, and it shall come
to pass afterward that I will pour out
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my spirit on all flesh. Something
had not happened yet when Moses said what
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he said. When Joel said what
he said, something had not yet happened
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yet. It shall come to pass
afterward, after some things, that he
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would pour out his spirit on all
flesh. Ezekiel as well as Zekiel thirty
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six, twenty four through thirty two, I will take you from the nations
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and gather you from all the countries
and bring you into your old own land.
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God is speaking to hear about the
Jews. After their exile and after
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their punishment, after the spirits leaving
them, God will now gather together and
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bring them into their own land.
And then he says this, Ezekiel,
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twenty five, I will sprinkle clean
water on you, going to baptize you.
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I'm going to sprinkle clean water on
you, and you will be clean
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from all your uncleanness, all your
uncleannesses, uncleannesses and from all your idols.
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I will cleanse you and I will
give you. Remember what we read
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earlier in John. Listen to what
is Ekel says now, and I will
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give you a new heart and a
new spirit. I will put within you
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and I will remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and give you a
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heart of flesh. I will put
my spirit within you and cause you,
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I will cause you to walk in
my statutes and be careful to obey my
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rules. You shall dwell in the
land that I gave to your father's you
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shall be my people and I will
be your God. God says you are
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totally unable to do what I commanded
you to do, and because of that,
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I lifted my presence from you.
But there's a coming, a time
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when I will give you the spirit, who will be able to do what
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the law was unable to do.
The law commanded you and condemned you.
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The spirit will give you life so
that you will obey from the heart,
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from the spirit, not just according
to the letter. I will bring you
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together, I will dwell with you
and you will be my people. Well,
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when is all this fulfilled? Right, these promises, these waitings,
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this anticipation? In the Old Testament
it happens when Jesus is glorified. When
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Jesus is glorified, the disciples wait
for a little while and then the spirit
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comes in acts chapter two, what
we call pentecost. We refer to as
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pentecost acts to when the day of
pentecost arrived, they were all together in
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one place and suddenly there came from
heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind,
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and it filled the entire house where
they were sitting, and tongues as
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of fire appeared to them and rested
on each one of them and they were
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all filled with the Holy Spirit and
they began to speak in other tongues as
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the spirit gave them utterance. And
Peter then goes on to say in a
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sermon today, these things and Joel
and other places are fulfilled in your sight,
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this amazing event, this water shed. I really like that word.
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Of this passage, this water shed, moment in history, the spirit gets
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poured down in this amazing way,
rivers flowing down from the mountain, from
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Zion, the city of the Living
God, where Jesus is seated on the
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throne and exalted. So that's the
first point. That one of the things
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that Jesus tells us. That is
that is that there is this moment in
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history, and we now know what
it is, in which something new and
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different is anticipated and the spirit is
poured out in this overflowing, excessive not
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excessive in a bad way, but
abounding, abounding way, and that fills
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streams of living water, as we
know from all of these passages of old,
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lead to these amazing things, the
inclusion of the gentle tiles, the
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building up of the city and Eternal
City, the establishment of the mark,
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of the establishment of the King of
the people coming together in this sort of
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final way, new hearts, cleansed
hearts, and on and on and on.
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It's it's colors, and I'm only
reading you some of the passages.
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There's so many more. The second
thing for us to consider, then,
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and to notice this so important,
is that this event of the pouring out
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of the spirit is exclusively tied to
Jesus Right. He doesn't just say someday
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this will happen, he says believe
in me, and out of his heart
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will flow living waters. The scriptures
will be fulfilled in this way. You
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can turn with me or listen to
Isaiah, Chapter Forty two, where we
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see the these two things come together, the giving of the spirit and the
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Messiah. We see one of many
ways in which we see that the missions
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of the spirit and the Messiah this
are are distinct but not separated. Isaiah
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forty two, one through seven.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
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my chosen in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him,
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and he will bring forth justice to
the nation's he will not cry aloud
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or lift up his voice and met
or make it heard in the street.
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A bruised. Read he will not
break a faintly burning wick. He will
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not quench he will faithfully bring forth
justice. He will not grow faint or
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be discouraged till he has a stablished
justice in the earth, and the coast
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lands will wait for his law.
GOING DOWN TO VERSE Ten, Sing to
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the Lord a new song, his
praise from the end of the earth,
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you who go down to the sea
and all that fills it, the coast
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lands and their inhabitants. As you
read these verses in this passage, you
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get this sense of what's happening here. The spirit of the Lord is going
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to rest on this anointed one,
this Christ, this Messiah, is Chosen
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One, and in that anointing and
in that work he is going to establish
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this world wide rule where the coast
lands, the faraway places, the ends
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of the Earth, will sing God's
praise, where justice will be established,
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and he's not going to rest until
it's done. He's not even to get
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discouraged. Right, you ever get
discouraged in doing the right thing? I
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do. It gets tiring to do
the right thing sometimes to press on,
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to press on. He doesn't even
get discouraged. He just keeps going and
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going and going in the joy of
the Lord. So who is this great
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savior? Who is this great spirit, anointed one through which these river will
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will flow? It is Jesus and
it is these. It is Jesus who
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opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads
these passages and says these are fulfilled in
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your hearing. Jesus is mission in
the spirits mission are distinct, but they're
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not separate. The spirit doesn't come
unless Jesus was glorified, and Jesus isn't
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glorified unless he's anointed by the spirit. Amazing. Now, going back to
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John Chapter Seven, there's some disagreement
as to whether the scripture, which is
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really a combination of a lot of
different ideas that we find in scripture,
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out of his heart will flow live
rivers of living water, whether that applies
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first and directly to Christ or to
his people. I agree with those who
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say it's both, and I don't
mean that as a sort of weasily don't
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want to solve the problem. Cut
Away you'll see what I mean. First
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of all, remember what Jesus told
the woman at the well in John Ten.
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He says to her, if you
knew the Gift of God and who
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it is that is saying to you, give me a drink. You would
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have asked him and he would have
given you living water. Right, Jesus
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is the source of the living water, and what we are learning here is
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that he does that. He gives
that, remember will, the Lord,
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the Giver We sang in for three
he does that through the spirit, who
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is, as we confess in the
nicene creed, the Lord and Giver of
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Life. WHO GIVES US life?
Jesus, or the spirit? Yes,
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right, Jesus is our living water. He is the source of our joy.
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We receive our joy from him.
Why? Because we receive the spirit
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from him, as Jesus later says
in John Fourteen seven, where the Holy
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Spirit is now with the disciples.
Soon the Holy Spirit will be in the
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disciples. The spirit is with them. He is active in various ways.
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He has been throughout Jesus's ministry and
their time with them. But something new
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is happening, and intimacy that is
greater that they themselves will become, in
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a way, the source of water, not separate from Jesus but united to
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Jesus, in which the livings of
wood having water will flow out into all
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the world. People will hear the
Gospel and will be saved. It's helpful,
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then, at this point to consider
the Temple of God, this place
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in which the spirit of God descends
and dwells and which God dwells with his
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people. Throughout the Old Testament,
the temple was a place where God placed
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his name and dwelled with his people, and one of the images that is
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associated with that temple was this temple
is being that on a mountain from which
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water flowed, a life giving image
in which the Lord is dwelling and from
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him water, unto life, flows
out into the world. Now this is
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pictured in various water imagery around the
temple that was built, but it really
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begins in the garden of Eden where
man first dwells with God and is present
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with him. There, the Garden
of Eden, this mountain top garden in
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which the tree of life was in
the middle and water flows out into the
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earth. You Remember Genesis to ten. Maybe it's a detail you've passed over.
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Genesis to ten describing the garden of
Eden in which God first dwelled with
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his creation, with man. Genesis
to ten says a river flowed out of
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Eden, out of Eden to water
the larger garden, and there it divided
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and became four rivers from which it
fed the earth. Now man lost communion
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with God. We know man fell
under the wrath and curse and what happened
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with God and his presence with man, and was ejected. He was sent
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out of the guard and the door
was the gate, the door or the
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way was barred, and from that
placed on he would be put in a
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world. It was not the garden
of Eden it was a place where life
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would be hard, where things would
be hard, where things wouldn't grow,
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and man would eventually die and return
to the dust. Instead of perpetual streams
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of life, man would struggle and
suffer and die, the natural consequences of
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sin, of turning away from God, who is the source of life.
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You turn away from life, and
what do you get? Death, and
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that's what man God. But what
does God do? In His mercy?
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He makes this plan of salvation in
which he would re establish one day a
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place for him to dwell, but
a place that is perfect and glorified,
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Anya tternal, and the prophets speak
about this in the same in these edenic,
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if I could put it that way, terms, and these garden of
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Eden terms, these temple terms,
terms about streams of water bubbling up in
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the desert. Our Sister Church,
desert springs, gets their name from.
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This is a great name, desert
streams. Right. This isn't just a
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Tucson reference, it's a biblical reference, a referge, a reference about the
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new age begun, God doing these
amazing things. Listen to Ezekiel forty seven,
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which is Zekiel has a vision about
the temple that God will, will
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build the temple that will replace the
temple, that the earthly temple. There's
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so much to read here and I
won't read it all. I'm all encourage
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you to look at it on your
own, but listen to a little bit.
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Nine verses from Ezekiel Forty Seven.
Then he brought me to the back
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or sorry, then he brought me
back to the door of the temple.
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And behold, at the door of
the temple and behold, pay attention.
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Water was issuing from below, below
the threshold of the temple, toward the
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East, for the temple faced the
east. The water was flowing down from
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but now below the south end of
the fret threshold of the temple, south
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of the altar. Then he brought
me out by way of the North Gate
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and led me around on the outside
to the outer gate that faces toward the
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East. And behold the water was
trickling out on the south side. Interesting
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image right the temple, of water
flowing out from underneath the temple going on
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eastward. With a measuring line in
his hand, the man measured a thousand
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cubits and then led me through the
water and it was ankle deep. Again,
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he measured a thousand and led me
through the water and it was knee
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deep. Again, he measured a
thousand and he led me through the water
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and it was waste deep. Again, he measured a thousand and it was
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a river that I could not pass
through, for the water had risen.
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It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed
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through, and he said to me, son of man, have you seen
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this? Then he led me to
the Bank of the river. As I
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went back, I saw on the
Bank of the river very many trees on
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the one side and on the other
and he said to me this water flows
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toward the Eastern Region and goes down
into the Araba, that's a desert land,
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and enters the sea when the water
flows into the sea, the water
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will become fresh and wherever the river
goes, every living creature that swarms will
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live and there will be very many, any fish, for this water goes
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there that the waters of the sea
may become fresh, so that everything will
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live where the river goes. Stunning, isn't it? And so now here's
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Jesus this to the fuse of the
booths standing in the temple, saying if
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anyone thirsts, let him come to
me. If anyone thirst let him come
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to me and drink. Whoever believes
in me, as the Scripture said,
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out of his heart will flow rivers
of living water. How would God accomplish
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these things that he spoke to Ezekiel, to Joel, Moses hoped for the
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David Long for? How would these
things that were lost in eat and and
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never fully realized as they were supposed
to be, be regained? How would
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God would one day dwell with his
people in such a way that we would
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be filled with the spirit, cleansed, and that everything around us and in
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us would be nothing but life,
buzzing with life? The answer is that
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one day he would send the servant, his son, to re establish and
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perfect God's presence with man and to
do it permanently, based not on obedience
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to the law. Are Obedience to
the law, but his based on his
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promises of based upon His grace.
I will cleanse your heart, he said,
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not you, I will cleanse your
heart, and because I'm going to
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do it, it's going to be
perfect. You will obey from the heart
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and all of these things will come
to pass. This is what happens when
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God sends the son and when the
father and the son send the spirit.
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By taking on our humanity, Jesus
becomes our reputation, our representative, and
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we become united to him. And
in regard to the Temple, Peter tells
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us that he is the corner stone
and the foundation on which we, as
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living stones, are built. What
we come to understand in the New Testament
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is that was we are united to
Christ. We we come to enjoy all
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of these pictures that we have,
not just pictures, but the realities to
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which these pictures point. In regard
to the temple revelation, twenty two says
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then the angels showed me. The
Angel showed me the river of water of
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life, bright is crystal, flowing
from where. He says flowing from the
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throne of God and of the lamb. WHY DOES JESUS NEED TO BE EXALTED?
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Because that's where the river flows from, his eggxaltated glory, Exalted Glory
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in which we stand as conquerors and
as people that are saved, as people
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that are enjoy this life. I
shouldn't interrupt the scripture so much. Then
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the angel showed me the river of
water, of life, bright as crystal,
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flowing from the throne of God and
of the lamb through the middle of
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the street of the city. Also, on either side of the river,
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the tree of life right member boy, back in Genesis, here it is
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again, the tree of life,
with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding
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its fruit in each month. The
leaves of the tree were for the healing
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of the nations. When the spirit
comes, he's not just going to come
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on an earthly temple again to gather
around people again to command obedience to the
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law, where he might leave again. That happened and that's over. The
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world has learned its lesson, the
or the lesson has been taught. Anyway.
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God has taught his lesson, and
now it's time for us to pay
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attention and to see who this savior
is and what he is doing, and
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that in giving us the spirit,
he is giving us this guarantee that we
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belong to him, that we are
part of that temple, a part of
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that city, and that our first
in him can be assuaged, can be
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quenched, can be satisfied. This
beloved is our great hope and in the
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spirit we have the guarantee of it. Ephesians one thirteen through fourteen says,
397
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Ephesians one thirteen through fourteen. In
Him, that is, in Christ.
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You also, when you heard the
word of Truth and the Gospel of your
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salvation and believed in him, were
sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who
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is the guarantee of our inheritance until
we acquire possession of it, and to
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the praise of his glory, how
do you know that all these things that
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the prophets are spoke of belong to
you right now, as John says in
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First John Two eight, because the
darkness is passing away in the true light
404
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is already shining. How do you
know? Because you have the spirit,
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because of pentecost, because the spirit
has been poured out on the world.
406
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What is God doing now? Peter
tells us as you come to Jesus,
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a living stone, rejected by men
but in the sight of God, chosen
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00:36:53.010 --> 00:36:59.690
and precious. You, yourselves,
like like living stones, are being built
409
00:37:00.170 --> 00:37:07.639
up as a spiritual house, to
be a holy, perious priesthood, to
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00:37:07.800 --> 00:37:15.159
offer spiritual sacrifice is acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ. So there is,
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00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:21.030
with the spirit, as he gives, as he as we receive him by
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00:37:21.150 --> 00:37:30.699
believing in Jesus, a finality and
intimacy, a measure, an overflowingness and
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00:37:30.900 --> 00:37:36.900
inclusion, where the whole world of
the Gospel it goes out until all of
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00:37:37.019 --> 00:37:44.099
the world in which people are saved, the nation's and eternality which is never
415
00:37:44.260 --> 00:37:49.610
before been known in the history of
the world. That's what Jesus is promising
416
00:37:49.690 --> 00:37:55.969
here in John Seventeen. That's what
happened and that's what we are now experiencing
417
00:37:58.130 --> 00:38:01.599
and living in the light. The
darkness is already passing away. The light
418
00:38:01.719 --> 00:38:06.159
is shining right now. We don't
have to wait Toi. For yet another
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00:38:06.480 --> 00:38:10.960
age to happen. That age,
that new age, has already breaking in
420
00:38:12.760 --> 00:38:22.110
on this world. And this is
why you must repent and believe in Jesus,
421
00:38:23.349 --> 00:38:30.579
because, apart from him, no
spirit apart from him, no Zion
422
00:38:30.699 --> 00:38:36.019
apart from him, no temple apart
from him, no everlasting life apart from
423
00:38:36.019 --> 00:38:38.980
him, no thirst quenched. Apart
from him. It's desert, dry,
424
00:38:39.699 --> 00:38:52.849
wilderness, thirst, death. But
in Him we have a heart of stone
425
00:38:52.969 --> 00:38:58.960
that is impervious to loving the Lord
and does nothing but hate people. Then
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00:38:59.119 --> 00:39:07.400
stand apart from him and begins beating, beating with the life of the spirit
427
00:39:07.639 --> 00:39:14.110
of God in dwelling us and building
us together up into a Holy Temple,
428
00:39:15.269 --> 00:39:20.150
not just a bunch of individual hearts, but the heart of Christ, we
429
00:39:20.190 --> 00:39:22.429
might say, or, as Paul
puts it, the mind of Christ,
430
00:39:24.739 --> 00:39:30.619
that we might, together with him
as our head, walk as his,
431
00:39:31.699 --> 00:39:38.250
the members of his body. This
is why we confess the spirit as Lord,
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00:39:39.730 --> 00:39:45.610
if we worship and we glorify him
and we call him the giver of
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00:39:45.730 --> 00:39:51.489
Life, and this is why we
believe in the Sun. Who sent him?
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Let's pray
