Rivers of Revival | Part 2

Are you a river of revival? You can find it featuring the powerful biblical messages of pastor and author Adrian Rogers.

I don't know about you, but I am so eager to start 2021 and it's not just to say goodbye to 2020. I really pray that 2021 will be a year of revival, that God would do extraordinary things in this land through his people, that he would do something extraordinary in my heart. As we ask God to do something supernatural for a desperate world, we need to pray that we become like the rivers of revival pictured in Ezekiel chapter 47. If you have your Bible, turn there now as Adrian Rogers begins part two of Rivers of Revival. Now, Jesus said, as the scripture has said, out of Zen and most beings shall flow rivers of living water. We don't find that exact text in the Old Testament, but we find the illustration in the Old Testament and it is in Ezekiel chapter 47.

And so I want you to begin reading with me from the Word of God, and we're going to read the first five verses. Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house. Now the house he's speaking of is the temple. And behold, the waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward, for the forefront of the house stood toward the east. And the waters came down from under, from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar, then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate, by the way that looketh eastward. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters.

The waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters, and the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters, and the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over, for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

Now that may sound very convoluted and difficult, but we're going to break it down a little bit and you're going to find out that it applies to you personally, because Jesus said if you thirst and come to him, out of you will flow a river of living water. Now the illustration here in Ezekiel is the temple of God, the Old Testament temple. Now he's using supernatural symbolism here about something that is happening from the temple. He's not talking about the literal temple here.

There is a greater spiritual lesson. Now what you need to understand is, friend, you are a temple of God. The Old Testament temple was only an illustration of the Christian. You see, listen, in the Old Testament, God had a temple for his people. In the New Testament he has a people for his temple. You are the temple of God.

That's what Paul had to say in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 19, what? Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost who dwells in you? That's what Jesus was talking about, out of his innermost being, out of the temple will flow rivers of living water. There is a river of revival that should be flowing through me. As I studied this and prayed over it, I thought, dear God, make my life a river of revival. Lord, I want to be a river of refreshment to those who are around me.

I don't want anybody to come in contact with me, but what, that somehow they're touched with me. Now I want us to notice three major thoughts this morning. And first of all, I want us to notice what I'm going to call the mysterious source of the river, the mysterious source of the river. This river comes, first of all, from under the threshold. Look, if you will, in verse 1, Ezekiel 47 verse 1, and you'll find out that this river comes from under the threshold. Now, how high is the threshold? Well, about that high. And the water flows out from under the threshold. Now what's the idea?

That's about as low as you can get, under the threshold. Now you are the temple, and this water is to be flowing out of you from under the threshold. This river has a humble source.

Listen to me, church. Revival never begins without God's people humbling themselves, God's people on their face before God. This river comes from a humble source, and it comes from a holy source. It flows past the altar.

You see it there in the Word of God? It flows right past the altar. Now what is the altar? The altar was the place where the blood was shed. What does that blood shed in the Old Testament speak of? The blood of Jesus Christ.

First John 1 verse 9, for the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. You see, if you want to be a river of blessing, you've got to be humble and you've got to be holy. And then it's a heated flow. If you look there in the Bible again, you'll find out that the waters float out toward the east.

The east is where the sun would come up and heat the morning chill. And it flowed from the south side of the altar. That's the sunny side of the altar. Again, if we do business with God, we're going to have to say, well, God give me a hot heart.

Give me a concern. Lord, may this river that flows out of me, may it come from a sunny side of my disposition. Here's the second thing. I want you to notice what I'm going to call the marked course of the river. Let's see where the river flows in Ezekiel 47, 2 through 5, and He brought me out by the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way, without, unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward. And behold, there ran out waters on the right side, and when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters. The waters were to the ankles. Again, he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters. The waters were to the knees. Again, he measured a thousand and brought me through the waters. The waters were to the loins, that is the waist. And afterward he measured a thousand, and there was a river that I could not pass over, for the waters were risen, waters to swim in that could not be passed over."

Now, what is happening? This humble flow, this holy flow, this heated flow that comes out, it becomes an ever-deepening, ever-enlarging river. That speaks to me of walking in the Spirit. And then the water gets deeper, it gets to the knees. That speaks to me of praying in the Spirit. Then another 500 yards, the water begins to deepen, and the water is waist-deep.

That speaks of strength in the Spirit, the loins as spoken of in the Bible as the center of your strength, and it is today for a wrestler. And the water is up here, to the thighs and the loins. And then finally, 500 more yards, and the river is so deep, the waters are so forceful, you couldn't pass through it. Just waters that you're swept up in, waters that you're carried along by.

I'm not talking about false enthusiasm. I'm talking about a genuine Holy Spirit control of your life, where you step into the water of revival, or the water of revival is flowing out of you. It is getting ever wider, ever deeper. What a mighty force this river is. You know, nobody can stop a river unless they stop it at the source. This is a supernatural river. Jesus said, out of his innermost beings shall flow rivers of living water. And where do the waters flow? First of all, they flow to the depressed places. The water starts up here at the temple, and verse 8 tells us that these waters go down into the desert and into the sea. They go down, down, down. We live in a land of depressed people.

There are people today who are up against it, they don't know what to do. There needs to be such a supernatural river flowing out of you into those depressed places that you will be a river of revival to these people. And not only does the river flow into the depressed places, it flows into the desert places. Now the Bible says there in verse 8, these waters go down to the desert. That's the Judean desert, the Arabah. Nothing much grows there.

A few little scrubby things, but there's no real fruit, there's no real flower, there's no real succulents, there's no real fruitfulness there. And there's so many who are not depressed, but they're living desert lives, parched lives. They don't know the joy that you know. They don't know joy unspeakable and full of glory.

They don't have the answers to life that you have, desert, dryness, fruitlessness. Not only do the waters go down to the depressed places and the desert places and the dry places, these waters go down to the deadly places. Verse 8 says they flow into the sea. Now that sea is the sea I told you about a little while ago. It's the Dead Sea.

No fish in there because it is a deadly place. Now friend, not only are there people around us who are depressed, and not only are there people around us who are dry, but there are people around us who are dying and going to hell. There is a place of death, I'm not talking about overseas, I'm talking about next door.

I'm talking about the people that you work with. They are living a life of death. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sins should surely die. She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she lives.

How are these people going to have life? We talked about it last Sunday in the raising of Lazarus. A river of life has to flow out of you. Do you care? Does it make any difference to you that souls are dying, people are slipping out through the jaws of death into a Christless eternity, and many of them are dead while they live? Do you care? Is there something about your life that will help to change their life?

Will you touch their life? This is the force of the river. It flows into the deadly places. Now here's the third thing I want you to see. I want you to see with me what I'm going to call the mighty force of the river, the mighty force of the river.

We've seen the source and the course. Let's think about the force of the river. Where does this river flow? First of all, look, if you will, in verse 7.

Put this down. Where the waters flow, the trees will grow. Look in verse 7, and now when I return, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.

I can just imagine that. I've been down that Jericho road going down there to the Dead Sea, how dry and barren it is. And Ezekiel said, look, look at the trees, green, succulent, all of them growing by the river that is flowing from the temple. What does that represent? A literal tree?

Of course not. What that represents is this, Jesus said that a righteous man should be like a tree, what? Planted by the river of water, Psalm 1. He's talking about Christians, healthy Christians, Christians now who are finding strength and life becoming a tree that will not wither. Where the waters flow, the trees will grow.

A healthy saint is like a tree. And then watch this, where the waters flow, the fish will go. Look at it now, verses 8 and 9, and he saith unto me, these waters go toward the east country and go down into the desert and into the sea, which being brought forth unto the sea, the waters shall be healed. That is these deadly waters of the Dead Sea are going to be healed and it shall come to pass that everything that liveth which moveth whatsoever the rivers shall come shall live. And there should be a very great multitude of fish because these waters shall come thither and they shall be healed and everything shall live whither the river comes. Now here's this river cascading down, down, down, down, down, down into depressed places and desert places and deadly places and the water comes to the Dead Sea and a transformation takes place. That Dead Sea where no fish could live begins to swarm with fish. May I tell you what that speaks to me of? Jesus said to me, to you, that we're to be fishers of men.

Why is it that we catch so few fish because we're fishing in a stagnant pond? Friend, when the church gets right, when we have genuine revival, and revival is not evangelism, evangelism is the fruit of revival. Revival is the river flowing, but when the river begins to flow, where the river flows the fish will go. You know, if we get on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ or filled with the Spirit, however you want to call it, it will be noised abroad. The Bible says when Jesus was doing His ministry, it was noised abroad that Jesus was in the house and the place was filled. Have you ever thought about the Day of Pentecost? On the Day of Pentecost, there was a little handful of disciples, 120, but they began to pray and praise and give glory to God. And there was a mighty, mighty demonstration of the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says, and the multitude came together. Now historians tell us there were probably about a million people in Jerusalem at that time for the Feast of the Passover.

A hundred and twenty people, how are they going to impact a million people? Well, friend, the unsaved will come when they see the reality of Jesus Christ. The world is not looking for a new definition of the gospel. The world is looking for a new demonstration of the gospel. Have you ever thought of a person coming to a cold, dead, dry, unrevived church, what it must be like? Here's a man whose wife has begged him to go to whatever church it is. And he finally comes, but he says, this once I'll come. And he sits there and the choir sings something in Latin, something he can't understand. Then the congregation stands to sing and there's no enthusiasm, they sound like a couple of calves dying in a hailstorm. And then the preacher gets up. He's not anointed of God. He may not even use the Bible, he'll give some soliloquy or some Reader's Digest this or that or some commentary on the news.

And everybody is cold and clammy. I'll tell you one thing, that man will leave and most likely won't come back. But you let this man come into a service where the Spirit of God is there and the river is flowing.

And the people are praising God and revival is on the face of the choir, it's in the handshake of the usher, it's in the way the congregation sings, it's in the friendliness, it is in the warmth. And you know what's going to happen to that man? He's going to stop ticking things off the program with his pen waiting for it to get over. He's going to lift up his head and look around. He's going to say, you know, these folks believe that stuff.

And before long he'll be believing it also. You see, look, where the waters flow, the fish will go. Now here's another thing, where the waters flow, friend, the fruit will show. The Bible says, and by the river upon the bank thereof on this side and that side shall grow all trees for meat, that means for food, whose leaves shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed. Now that's the same thing as Psalm 1 says, a man planted by the rivers of waters will bring forth fruit and his leaves shall not wither. You see, there's fruit. Do you know what I want my life to be? I want my life to be an encouragement to you and to me that people will see the fruit of the Spirit in you.

You know what the test of my life is? Test of my ministry is not how many buildings we have. It's not the size of our Bible study. It's not how much money we receive. It's not how well we organize.

It's not even how wonderful the services are. The test of my ministry is this, are you becoming more like Jesus? That we might present every man perfect in Christ, that's what the Apostle Paul says. And he's talking about the fruit. What is the fruit? It is the fruit of the Spirit. Read in Galatians chapter 5. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, mercy, longsuffering, and temperance. All that is, is a description of the character of Jesus Christ. And when a river is flowing out of you, out of your innermost being, those who are around you are going to be discipled and they're going to become fruitful. Last of all, where the waters flow, the health will glow. Look in verse 12, and by the river upon the bank thereof on this side and on that side shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaves shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed.

It shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary and the fruit thereof shall be for food and the leaf thereof for medicine. The church, the body of Christ is sick, weak, and anemic. We might sing like a mighty army moves the church of God, but really, do you think of most churches as a mighty army?

What would happen? If we become real in our service to the Lord? Again, I want to tell you that coming to church is good, but don't think you've done God a wild favor because you've come. This is only to get you ready to do what you need to do and you to have a healing force on this world, in this city, everywhere you go, there's to be spiritual health because the river is flowing out of you and touching lives.

Now the question is this, very simply and very plainly. Are you thirsty? Remember how Jesus began this thing? Jesus said, if any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. Come to me and drink. Remember it begins with a thirst.

How thirsty are you? I don't know how much of God you have. Now listen, but you have all you want. You say, no, I want more.

No, you have all you want. If you wanted more, you'd have it. Jesus said, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. A shallow thirst, a shallow satisfaction, a deep thirst, a deep satisfaction. Little girl in the middle of the night said, Mommy, can I have a glass of water? The mother got up and gave it. 15 minutes later, Mommy, I want some more water. She breathed a sign, got up and gave another glass of water. Third time, Mommy, would you bring me some water? She went in there with water the third time and said, if you ask for water again, I'm going to spank you.

A little while later, the little girl said, Mommy, when you get up to spank me, would you bring me some water? It's a thirst. I want you to ask yourself this question earnestly.

Which of those categories are you in? I want to ask you a question. Do you have a genuine thirst for Jesus? It's not a one time thing.

It is a constant thing. You drink and keep on drinking. Ask another question. Do you know people where you live and work who need to be touched by a river of life? Has it ever dawned upon you that you could be that river? Would you pray, oh God, make me a river of revival?

Let your supernatural life flow out of me. Oh, God, make me a blessing. Father God, I pray that you would seal this message to our hearts and, Lord, that we would not just be impressed or entertained or informed, but, Lord, transformed and changed. Lord, while I pray for others, I pray for myself.

My God, make me a river of blessing. In the holy name of Jesus, amen. Amen, and as a new year begins, we are praying for revival to begin right here in our own hearts. And maybe you have a prayer request along those lines that you'd like to share. It's one of our greatest honors to come alongside you and pray with you. And if you can go to our website, you can scroll down at lwf.org slash radio to find our prayer wall. There's an option to submit a prayer request or pray for others. This is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry and the community praying continually for one another's needs. So go there now, find the prayer wall at lwf.org slash radio. Now if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD and request the title Rivers of Revival.

You can also order online at the website, lwf.org slash radio, or you can write us to order at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Are you thirsty for revival in your life? Jesus said, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. It's Matthew 5, verse 6, pray for a river of revival to flow through you today and all throughout the new year of 2021. And join us next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding. You know, as we look back on 2020 and that hard year and all of the upheaval, it causes us to look into the new year and wonder what will God do in and through Love Worth Finding. We've had so many people be so generous with us toward the end of the year, and you have that opportunity right now. If you want to help launch us into the year of 2021 with a generous gift, call us 1-877-LOVEGOD. We'd love to hear from you today, 1-877-568-3463, or you can give online at lwf.org slash radio. That's lwf.org slash radio. And thanks again for your generous support of Love Worth Finding.